The Chimney-Sweeper,1789

The Chimney-Sweeper，1789

              by William Blake

The Chimney-Sweeper

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'

And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind:
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

扫烟囱孩子

  威廉·布莱克

The Chimney-Sweeper

我母亲死的时候，我还小得很，
我父亲把我拿出来卖给了别人，
我当时还不大喊得清“扫呀，扫，”
我就扫你们烟囱，裹煤屑睡觉。

有个小托姆，头发卷得像小羊头，
剃光的时候，哭得好伤心，好难受，
我就说：“小托姆，不要紧，光了脑袋，
大起来煤屑就不会糟蹋你白头发。”

他就安安静静了，当天夜里，
托姆睡着了，事情就来得稀奇，
他看见千千万万的扫烟囱小孩
阿猫阿狗全都给锁进了黑棺材。

后来来了个天使，拿了把金钥匙，
开棺材放出了孩子们（真是好天使！）
他们就边跳，边笑，边跑过草坪，
到河里洗了澡，太阳里晒得亮晶晶。

光光的，白白的，把袋子都抛个一地，
他们就升上了云端，在风里游戏；
“只要你做个好孩子，”天使对托姆说，
“上帝会做你的父亲，你永远快乐。”

托姆就醒了；屋子里黑咕隆咚，
我们就起来拿袋子、扫帚去做工。
大清早尽管冷，托姆的心里可温暖；
这叫做：各尽本分，就不怕灾难。
（卞之琳 译）

  此诗选自布莱克的诗集《天真之歌》。在十八世纪，小孩，有时候甚至不到四五岁，被雇佣来爬上狭窄的烟道，去清扫烟囱，烟灰装在口袋里。这些小孩有时候是被父母卖给专营清扫烟囱的人，那些人虐待他们，很多孩子染上各種病，身体变成畸形。这首诗，是对社会容许这种惨无人道的奴役的强烈谴责。全诗从一个孩子的视角，模仿孩子天真的语言，而强烈的讽刺寓于其中。小孩说的话和布莱克要表达的意思是很不相同的，从而起到一种反讽的效果。在诗的第八行，提到的白发，暗含强烈的讽刺意味，因为这些孩子很少有活到长出白头发的那一天的！中间，托姆的美梦和结尾处冰冷的现实形成巨大的反差。最后一行“do their duty”隐含谴责那些没有对可怜的扫烟囱的小孩尽到职责的人：他们的父母，以及整个社会。全诗的基调是compassion（同情）和angry（愤怒），而后一种情绪深深的隐藏在表面冷静的文字底下。

威廉·布莱克简介