The Chimney-Sweeper解析

the political and religious leaders, represented by God, Priest and King, are hypocritically pious. They maintain a sumptuous life, but ignore the povertystricken groups. Through the child’s simple statement, the poet intends to attack them for their indifference and ruthlessness. Blake showcases the life of a common sweeper and exposes those who allowed barbaric actions against them to take place.
A little black thing among the snow 一个满身污垢的小小身影站在大雪里， Crying weep, weep, in notes of woe! “扫烟囱！扫烟囱！”他的叫声悲戚！ （the child's attempt at saying "Sweep! Sweep!," which was the chimney sweeper's street cry. Weep : cry）
Summary
The Chimney Sweeper is the title of two poems by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794.In the earlier poem, a young chimney sweeper recounts a dream had by one of his fellows, in which an angel rescues the boys from coffins and takes them to a sunny meadow; in the later poem, an apparently adult speaker encounters a child chimney sweeper abandoned in the snow while his parents are at church.
The poem is pictured by an engraving made by Blake himself. It shows the child walking along a street, it is a rainy day and he is alone. Furthermore, the boy is barefoot and dirty. With his right hand he is holding a brusher and is carring a dirty, big bag on his back. The rain is particularly dark. The final point is that the child is looking at the storm with what it seems a sad expression in his face.
William Blake
威廉· 布莱克（William Blake 1757—1827）， 生于伦敦一个袜商之家，少年时家境贫寒， 未有就学机会，十四岁开始当雕版学徒，后 即靠雕刻版画为生。平生写诗甚多，其代表 作有《天真之歌》（Songs of Innocence） 和《经验之歌》（Songs of Experience）等。 他的诗歌富有民主思想，揭露了当时英国社 会的罪恶和不公正现象，表现了他对穷苦不 幸者的深切同情。
In the second and third stanzas, the child explains his situation. He describes that he had been happy and “smiled among the winter snow,” but also he was taught to suffer when he says “and taught me to sing the notes of woe.” Adults are mentioned in the poem when he questioned “Where are thy father and mother?” and when he says “God & his Priest & King.” Finally he blames “they” and adds “who make up a heaven of our misery.”
Where are thy father & mother? say? “告诉我，你的父母在哪里？” They are both gone up to the church to pray. 他们都去了教堂祷告上帝.
The first stanza is a testimony that describes the situation of a little chimney sweeper in the snow who is crying and calling for his parents while they are praying at the church.
The Chimney Sweeper
Background
壁炉中燃烧的柴火会积生一层层的煤灰，容 易堵住烟囱的通道，影响空气的进出流动， 因此需要常常清理。可是壁炉的空间与烟囱 的通道又是那么的狭窄，那清理扫除的工作 由谁来做呢？身材细小的孩童便成了劳力的 主要来源。于是，清晨时分，一个个背带着 清扫工具袋的孩童，沿着大街小巷叫喊着 「扫烟囱！扫烟囱！」大概是十八、十九世 纪英国大城市熟悉的生活场景之一。
扫烟囱的孩子
威廉· 布莱克
风雪里一个满身乌黑的小东西 “扫呀，扫呀”在那里哭哭啼啼！ “你的爹娘上哪儿去了，你讲讲？” “他们呀都去祷告了，上了教堂。 “因为我原先在野地里欢欢喜喜， 我在冬天的雪地里也总是笑嘻嘻， 他们就把我拿晦气的黑衣裳一罩， 他们还教我唱起了悲伤的曲调。
“因为我显得快活，还唱歌，还跳舞， 他们就以为并没有把我害苦， 就跑去赞美了上帝、教士和国王， 夸他们拿我们苦难造成了天堂。” （卞之琳 译）
Major Literary Works
Songs of Innocence (1789): present a happy and innocent world, though with its evils and sufferings Songs of Experience (1794): present a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone
The Chimney-Sweeper
(Songs of Innocence), 1789
பைடு நூலகம்
When my mother died I was very young, 我母亲死的时候， 我还小得很， And my father sold me while yet my tongue 我父亲把我拿出 来卖给了别人， Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 我当时还不 大喊得清，“扫呀——扫!” So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep. 我就扫你们 烟囱，裹煤屑睡觉。 There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, 有个小托 姆，头发卷得像小羊头， That curled like a lamb‘s back, was shaved: so I said, 剃光 的时候，哭得好伤心，好难受， "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare, 我就 说：“小托姆，不要紧，光了脑袋， You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." 打起来 煤屑就不会糟踏你白头发。”
Analysis
这首小诗表面看似明快，其弦外之音让人感到震撼。 读这首诗时，首先映入读者眼帘的是“little”一词。 “little”往往指无忧无虑、活泼可爱的儿童，但在诗中 立刻被“black”一词化解。扫烟囱的孩子爬进窄小的 烟囱，挤在里面，还要用手去刮煤灰，不但蓬头垢面， 而且很容易烫伤甚至窒息而死。小小年纪，就要在街 上招揽生意，“weep!weep!”一声声凄厉的叫喊是风 雪中哀伤的音符。孩子野地里玩耍，父母却让他穿上 黑衣去扫烟囱，孩子在烟囱里呻吟，父母却在教堂里 虔诚祈祷。这惨不忍睹的情景强烈地震撼了诗人的心。 在诗的末尾诗人指出：上帝不但不拯救扫烟囱的孩子， 而且伙同国王和教士把天堂建在无数孩子的痛苦之上， 从而表达了诗人对社会不平的愤怒。
And because I am happy & dance & sing, “因为我显得快乐，又唱歌，又跳舞， They think they have done me no injury: 他们就觉得对我的所为无害无虞， And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King, 于是就去赞美牧师、国王和上帝— Who make up a heaven of our misery. 这些人用我们的痛苦成就了一个极乐之地。”
The background to these poems is one of the many social problems that existed in Blake's time—the use of young children as chimney sweeps. Children were often sold at the age of seven to work as chimney sweeps. They were badly treated, with never enough clothes, food or housing. They were placed in constant danger of suffocating or burning, and the soot caused cancer and other serious illnesses that resulted in painful and early deaths.
Because I was happy upon the heath, “因为我喜欢在荒野上嬉戏， And smil'd among the winters snow 在冬天的大雪中也满脸笑意， They clothed me in the clothes of death, 他们就给我穿上丧衣， And taught me to sing the notes of woe. 还教我用悲声唱丧曲。”
The Structure:
Based a stanza of four lines. Rhythm pattern: aabb （联韵）on First
stanza. abab（交叉韵）on second &third
Features
written in first person：creates credibility and a deeper sense of sympathy.“'weep! 'weep! 'weep!” Blake writes his poems in plain and direct language. His poems often carry the lyric beauty with immense compression of meaning. He distrusts the abstractness and tends to embody his views with visual images. use of simple language serious, somber themes lyrical beauty symbolism mysticism