William Blake 威廉·布莱克(1757—1827)Of all the romantic poets of the eighteenth century, William Blake is the most independent and the most original. Blake, born on 28 November 1757, the son of a London haberdasher, was a strange, imaginative child, whose soul was more at home with brooks and flowers and fairies than with the crowd of the city streets. Beyond learning to read and write, he received no ducation. His only formal education was in art: at the age of 10 he entered a drawing school and later studied for a time at the school ofthe Royal Academy of Arts. At 14 he apprenticed for seven years to a well-known engraver, James Basire, read widely in his free time, and began to try his hand at poetry. At24 he married Catherine Boucher, daughter ofa market gardener. She was then illiterate, but Blake taught her to read and to help him in his engraving and printing. In the early and somewhat sentimentalized biographies, Catherine is represented as an ideal wife for an unorthodox and penniless genius. Blake, however, must have been a trying domestic partner, and his vehement attacks on the torment caused by a possessive, jealous female will, which reached their height in 1793, and remained prominent in his writings for another decade, probably reflect a troubled period at home. The couple had no children.In 1800, he moved to Felpham in Sussex, where he had a patron who wanted to transform Blake into a conventional artist and bread earner. But Blake had his ideals and wanted to pursue his spiritual life. He rebelled. After three years at Felpham Blake moved back to London, determined to follow his “Divine Vision” though it meant a life of isolation, misunderstanding, and poverty. He had a one-man show put on in 1809, which proved a total failure. Blake passed into almost complete obscurity. Only when he was in his 60’s did he finally attract a small but devoted group of young painters who served as an audience for his work and his talk, Blake’s old age was serene, selfconfident, and joyous, largely free from the bursts of irascibility with which he had earlier responded to the shallowness and blindness of the English public. He died in his seventieth year in 1827.Blake was a very important poet in the history of English literature. His poems seem easy, but difficult to understand onaccount of his use of mysterious images and symbols. And one cannot really understand him if not versed in religious knowledge.He was strongly influenced by The French Revolution, the ideas of Thomas Paine, William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft and others. His main works include Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs ofExperience (1794), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790).London1I wander thro 2 each charter’d 3 street,Near where the charter’d Thames 4 does flow,And mark 5 in every face I meetMarks of weakness, marks of woe.In every 6 cry of every Man,In every Infant’s cry of fear,In every voice, in every ban, 7The mind-forg’d manacles 8 I hear.How the chimney-sweeper’s 9 cryEvery blackning 10 church appalls; 11And the hapless Soldier’s sighRuns in blood down Palace walls. 12But most 13 thro’ midnight streets I hearHow the youthful Harlot’s curseBlasts 14 the new-born Infant’s tear,And blights 15 with plagues 16 the Marriage hearse. 17 注释1. “London”: from Songs of Experience2. thro’: through3. charter’d: chartered, 指享有专利权的大商人或大公司所独占的4. Thames: 泰晤士河5. mark: notice6. every: 具体地从成人和婴儿、话语和法令的角度描绘伦敦的苦难7. ban: 禁令8. mind-forg’d manacles: 指用英国统治阶级思想铸成的镣铐，-forg’d: -forged9. chimney-sweeper: 扫烟囱者10. black’ning: blackening11. appalls: be surprised12. And the hapless soldier’s sigh / Runs in blood down palace walls:诗人听到不幸士兵的叹息，仿佛看到他们的鲜血正从王宫的墙壁上流下来。
Hapless : unfortunate13. most: most of all14. Blasts: 使干枯，指吓得婴儿不敢哭泣15. blights: destroy16. plagues: 指包括性病在内的各种疫病17. the Marriage hearse: 婚姻的柩车伦敦我徘徊在每条被独占的街上，靠近那也被霸占的泰晤士河，注意到所遇的每个行人脸上都把衰弱和痛苦的烙印铭刻。
从每个男女的每一声呼喊声，每个婴孩害怕的哭叫，从每个声音里，从每一条禁令都能听到心灵铸的镣铐。
听扫烟囱孩子的叫喊震惊着每座熏黑的教堂。
不幸士兵的悲叹像鲜血冲下堵堵宫墙。
但我常听见在深夜的街头年轻妓女不停地诅咒。
它吓得新生儿眼泪不敢流，妓女带来瘟疫，使婚车变成灵柩。
The Tyger1Tyger! Tyger！burning bright 2In the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry? 3In what distant deeps 4 or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he 5 aspire? 6What the hand, dare seize the fire? 7And what shoulder, 8 & what art, 9Could twist the sinews of thy heart? 10And when thy heart began to beat,What dread hand? & what dread feet ?11What the hammer? 12 what the chain?In what furnace was thy brain?What the anvil? what dread grasp 13Dare its deadly terrors clasp?When the stars threw down their spears, 14And water’d heaven with their tears,Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb 15 make thee?Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeDare frame thy fearful symmetry?注释1. This is one of the poems in Songs of Experience.Tyger: tiger2. burning bright: 指老虎的眼睛在黑暗中发出炽烈的光3. the fearful symmetry: 可怕的匀称4. deeps: seas5. he: God, 指造物者6. aspire: rise high7. seize the fire: （敢）抓住这样的火8. shoulder: 指肩臂的力量9. art: skills 技巧10. twist the sinews of thy heart: 拧制在你心脏的筋肉。