the chimney sweeper

willam blake'in the songs of innocence and of experience adlı eserindeki çocuk işçi çalıştırmayla ilgili iki bölümlük şiir.

birinci bölüm (innocence)

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 curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd: 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 lock'd up in coffins of black.

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins & 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 & 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, & never want joy.

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 & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

ikinci bölüm (experience)

little black thing among the snow,
Crying! "weep! weep!" in notes of woe!
Where are thy father and mother? Say!
They are both gone up to the church to pray.

Because I was happy upon the winter's snow,
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

And because I am happy and dance and sing,
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God and His priest and king,
Who made up a heaven of our misery.

(bkz: neverland).

şiir dersinde okuyup da unutamadığım şiirlerden biridir. hatta beni ağlatmışlığı da vardır bu şiirin.

blake, zamanında, ingilitere'de küçük çocukların bacalara sığabildikleri için baca temizleyicisi olarak çalıştırılmasını anlatır bu şiirde. aslında iki bölümden oluşmasının nedeni, tanrinin (bkz: innocence)da bahsettigi merhamet ve (bkz: experience)da hissettirdiği acimasizlik yetisi zıtlığını göstermektir.

innocence'ta da, experience'ta da bu isimli birer şiiri bulunur william blake'in. innocence'taki anlatıcı olan baca temizleyicisi çocuk her şeye rağmen içinde yaşadığı hayattan kurtulma umudu büyütür içinde. çocuklar işlerini iyi yaptıkları sürece kurtulacaklarını düşünürler. ancak experience'a gelindiğinde çok daha karamsar, çok daha farkında bir anlatıcı görürüz.

son dörtlüğü ayrıca severim ikinci şiirde.