The chimneysweeper, William Blake

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Lingue
Voto:	1.5 (2)
Download:	126
Data:	28.09.2001
Numero di pagine:	3
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

The Chimney Sweeper 1
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Cloud scarcely cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
weep!"1
So your chimneys I sweep, & in soot I sleep2.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his
head,
That curl'd like a lamb's back, who shav'd3: 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 quite, & that very night,
As Tom, was a-sleeping, he had such a sight4!
That thousands5 of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned,
& Jack6,
Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of
black7.
And by came Angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins & set them all free;
Than down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run8,
and wash in a river9, and shine in the Sun.
Then naked & white, all their bags left
behind,
They rise upon cloud and sport in the wind;
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good
boy,
he'd have God for his father, & never want
joy10.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark;
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Tho the morning was cold, Tom was happy &
warm11;
so if all their duty they need not fear harm.

Quando mia madre morì io ero molto piccolo,
E mio padre mi vendette nonostante la mia lingua ancora
Sapeva dire appena"'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
'weep!"
Così i vostri camini pulisco e nella cenere
dormo.
C'era il piccolo Tom Dacre, che piangeva
quando la sua testa.
Che era riccioluta come la spalla di un
agnello, fu rasata: così io dissi
"Calma, Tom! Non ci pensare, quando la tua
testa sarà rasata,
Sai, che la polvere non potrà più macchiare i
tuoi capelli bianchi".
E così si acquietò, e proprio quella notte
Mentre Tom dormiva, ebbe una visione!
Migliaia di spazzacamini, Dick, Joe, Ned e
Jack,
Erano tutti chiusi in bare di nero.
E arrivò un Angelo che aveva una chiave
lucente,
E aprì le bare e lasciò tutti liberi;
Su un prato, saltando, ridendo, loro corrono;
E si lavano in un fiume, e brillano al Sole.
Loro nudi e bianchi, tutte le loro borse
lasciate dietro,
Salgono sulle nuvole e si divertono nel vento;
E l'Angelo chiamò Tom, se sarebbe diventato
un bravo ragazzo,
Avrebbe avuto Dio come suo padre e non
avrebbe voluto altro.
E così Tom si svegliò; e noi ci alzammo nel
nero,
E prendemmo le nostre borse e le nostre
spazzole per lavorare.
Nonostante la mattina fosse fredda, Tom era
felice e riscaldato;
Così se tutti facessero il proprio dovere
nessuno avrebbe paura dei danni.
1 The child was not able to speak well, that means that he wasn't 3.
2 Before Blake poets spoke only about love, war, nature… The period of Blake is a difficult period for children. Often they were sold to work as chimney sweepers. Often they were abandoned near Churches or Black houses. That was a social problem. They had to clean the chimney flue, so they had to be very small.
3 For the child the haircut is a violence, it is not something natural. For Blake the haircut is a social rule. Tom was compared to the lamb for his hair. The words white hair symbolise the pureness. The soot is the social evil that dirties the innocence.
4 The sight is in contrast with the he Enlightenment.
5 There were a lot of children who had to work as chimney sweepers.
6 Blake gives to children their identity.
7 The words coffins of black are a reference to work and death. Death can be a solution to the sufferings of life.
8 These are the naturals activities of children.
9 The wash in the river symbolises the new life. There is a reference to Giovanni Battista.
10 The Angel treats the child that. He promises him a reword.
11 There is here the waking up. However the child is happy, because now he know what there is after death. In the dream there is a moral teaching. Blake invites to good to have a REWORD.
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