英国文学导读 (16).pdf

Pre-romanticists Auguries of Innocence • Too see a world in a grain of sand, • And a heaven in a wild flower, • Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, • And eternity in an hour. • 一沙一世界， • 一花一天国； • 君掌盛无边， • 刹那含永劫。 ——李叔同 • Comp. “一花一世界，一叶一如来” William Blake (1757-1827) • 1. His life – poet, philosopher and engraver • a. son of a hosiery businessman, • b. good at painting and sent to a drawing school, learnt to be a engraver, • c. happy marriage at the age of 24, • d. in his last years, gathered a group of young admirers. 2. Major works (1) Poetical Sketches (1783) It is a collection of youthful verse with notes of joy, laughter and love. He shows a contempt for the rule of reason and a strong sympathy with the fresh spirit of Elizabethan poetry. (2) Songs of Innocence (1789) It is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a world of delight, harmony, peace and love. The poems praise the beauty of nature and the innocence of the child. In this volume, Blake broke completely with the traditions of the 18th century. He experimented in meter and rhyme and introduced bold metrical innovations which could not be found in the poetry of his contemporaries. (3) Songs of Experience (1794) This volume of poetry painted a different world, a world of misery, poverty, and distress and showed the sufferings of the miserable. It reflected the dark side of human life. 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. • Theres little Tom Dacre, who c