Shelley, Blake and Wordsworth

William Blake

William Blake was born in 1757 in London and he died there in 1827. Painters were expected to conform to standards of realistic representation, to

respect perspective and proportions. Blake broke with these conventions and created a new kind of art which emphasized the power of imagination.

Regarding the poetry he rejected neoclassical literary style and themes. He stressed the importance of imagination over reason. He wrote short lyrical

verses that are included into two collection: the first is Songs of Innocence and in these the narrator is a shepherd who receives inspiration from a

child: childhood is the symbol of innocence. The second is Songs of Experience, because of Blake create the contrary of the first collection in the

form of the bard who questions the themes of the previous collection: in these verses emerge a more pessimistic view of life. Experience, identified

with adulthood, coexists with and completes Innocence, thus providing another point of view on reality. Blake considered the Church as the

responsible for the fragmentation of consciousness and the dualism characterising man’s life. To this dualistic view he substituted his vision of

“complementary opposites”. The possibility of progress, of achieving the knowledge of what we are, lies in the tension between opposite states of

mind. In Blake’s opinion, imagination is the means through which man could know the world: God, the child and the poet share this power of vision.

Also in his poems he sympathized with the victims of industrial society as children and prostitutes, as well as with the victims of oppression by

institution such as orphans and soldiers.

The Chimney Sweeper 1

In Songs of Innocence, Blake features in "The Chimney Sweeper" innocence represented by the speaker (the slightly older chimney sweep), Tom, and

all the other sweeps. This innocence is exploited and oppressed, and those who are being exploited are unaware of the oppression. The narrator is a

chimney sweep whose mother died and was sold by his father at a very young age, as implied by the lines "And my father sold me while my tongue /

could scarcely cry 'weep weep weep weep!'" (2-3). The phrase "in soot I sleep" (4), refers to the living conditions of the sweeps. The poem goes on to

talk about Tom Dacre and his dream, an important part of the poem. He dreams of the other chimney sweepers being locked in black coffins, symbolic

of the lives that the sweeps lived, being poor outcasts in society and having stained unwashed skin and often disfigured bodies. The angel opening the

coffins and freeing the sweeps shows the freeing of Tom and other sweeps from the oppressive lifestyle. The reference to being white and the bags

being left behind represents a complete escape from this oppression including the soot stained skin and the bags of tools and soot which they carried

by day and on which they slept at night. One may also interpret this dream as the coffins representing their literal deaths, and the chimney sweeps are

not free from the oppression until the afterlife. When the angel tells Tom that "if he'd be a good boy, / He'd have God for his father and never want

joy" (19-20), he gives Tom hope that if he is good and does his job, God will be his father and bless him in the next life. The poem concludes with the

narrator and his firm belief that if they are obedient and do their duty, all will be well. This last idea expressed emphasizes that he is in the state of

innocence and is unaware that he is a victim.

The Chimney Sweeper 2

Cosino tutto nero fra la neve,

Strilla in tono dolente “'zacamino”.

“Dimmi, il babbo e la mamma dove sono?”.

“Sono andati alla chiesa per pregare.

Poiché stavo contento in quella plaga,

Ed in mezzo alla neve sorridevo,

Mi hanno vestito in abiti di lutto,

Ed insegnato i canti del dolore.

E siccome in lietezza ballo e canto,

Ignoran che m’han fatto tanto male,

E stanno a pregar Dio, i Preti e il Re,

Che un paradiso fan di nostre pene”

In Songs of Experience, the child in "The Chimney Sweeper" understands that he is a victim and tells the observer (most likely the Bard in the

"Introduction" to Experience) who sees the "little black thing" (1) in the snow weeping. Unlike the boy in Innocence, both parents of this child are

living and have gone to the church to pray, an overt criticism of the Church of England since chimney sweepers were not welcome in church The boy

believes that his pious parents sold him as a chimney sweeper because he was happy. Clothing him "in the clothes of death" (7) refers to his life as a

social outcast and his being destined to an early death because of the working and living conditions of his profession. However, his parents believe

that they have done no harm and have "gone to praise God and his priest and king" (11). This is not only a criticism of the parents who sell their

children into this life but of the Church of England and the government for condoning the ill treatment of these chimney sweeps. He also seems to be

criticizing God himself, who seems so cruel for allowing those who practice this treatment to go unpunished.

London

Mi aggiro per ogni strada affittata

presso un Tamigi affittato che scorre,

e noto in ogni volto che incrocio

segni di prostrazione, segni di patimento.

In ogni grido di ogni uomo,

in ogni infantile grido di paura,

in qualsiasi voce, in qualsiasi veto,

odo le manette forgiate dalla mente :

come il grido di uno spazzacamino

sgomenta ogni chiesa che si sporca,

e l’ansito di un soldato sfortunato

scorre nel sangue giù dal Palazzo.

Soprattutto, nelle strade di mezzanotte odo come

la bestemmia di una prostituta che trabocca gioventù

maledica il vagito di un neonato,

e vizî di piaghe le esequie nuziali.

The poem describes the city of London at the end of XVIII century, during the industrial revolution. Every place is chartered , from the streets to the

Thames. The poet uses the metaphor of the "mind forg'd manacles" with 2 different meanings. The first one means that the imprisonment is not only

physical, but also mental and second one represents the society that imprisons with a rational organization.

The new order made the people sad by their lives marked by woe and sorrows. The poet repeats the word "every" to symbolize that no one can

escape. He also uses the capital letter for some words: Man, Infant, Chimney Sweeper, Soldier and Harlot. He wants to reflect the human generality:

all these people are victims of the effects of the industrial revolution.

The Lamb

Piccolo Agnello, chi ti ha creato?

Sai chi ti ha creato?

Ti ha dato la vita ed insegnato a nutrirti,

grazie al ruscello ed il prato,

ti ha dato la veste della gioia,

la più dolce veste lanosa e luminosa,

ti ha dato una voce così tenera

che ha fatto gioire tutte le valli?

Piccolo Agnello, chi ti ha creato,

Sai chi ti ha creato?

Piccolo Agnello, te lo dirò

piccolo Agnello, te lo dirò.

E' chiamato con il tuo nome

Perchè egli chiama se stesso un Agnello

Egli è mite ed egli è lieve

Egli divenne un piccolo bambino

Io un bambino, tu un Agnello,

noi siamo chiamati con il suo nome.

Piccolo Agnello, Dio ti benedica!

Content of the first stanza In this stanza, through some questions the poet asks the lamb if he knows about his maker (=creator): they are connected

with the moment of creation and with the creator.

It give no answers but he only introduce the lamb, giving a description of him and underlining some of his qualities: goodness, innocence, weakness,

purity. Concerning the physical aspect of the lamb, the poet says that he has a tender voice and soft clothing, he is woolly, bright, delightful.

Content of the second stanza

The poet speaks about the maker of the lamb and he introduced him as a generous maker. He is the subject of this stanza and he’s meek, mild and he

has become a little child.

There is an association between the poet and God: God became a child and also the poet is a child in his soul.

The Tyger

tigre tigre che bruci luminosa

nelle foreste della notte

quale mano o occhio immortale

potè formare la tua spaventosa simmetria??

in quali lontane profondità o cieli lontani

bruciava il fuoco dei tuoi occhi?

su quali ali ha osato librarsi?

quale mano ha osato afferrare il fuoco?

e quale spalla e quale potere

è riuscito a piegare i nervi del tuo cuore?

e quando il tuo cuore ha cominciato a battere

(chi ti ha dato -sottinteso) quella mano terribile e quel piede terrib?

quale martello quale catena

in quale fornace era il tuo cervello?

quale incudine quale morsa terribile?

ha osato afferrare i suoi mortali terrori?

quando le stelle buttarono giù le loro lance

ed hanno bagnato il cielo con le loro lacrime

lui ha sorriso del suo operato?

colui che ha creato l agnello ha creato anche te?

tigre tigre che bruci nella luminosa

nelle foreste della notte

quale mano o occhio immortale

ha osato formare la tua spaventosa simmetria?

The speaking voice is the poem’s one, and the addressee is the tiger. The poet asks questions to the tyger related to its origins. In particular, in the first

stanza he asks it if it knows who is its maker, which the poet calls “immortal hand or eye”. Then the poet asks the tyger if its creator is satisfied for his

work. He also asks him if its maker is the same entity who has created the lamb, a creature which is the opposite of it.

The tiger vs the lamb

The lamb represents innocence, tenderness and mildness, instead the tiger the corruption of innocence, terror and darkness; this contrast inspires a

questions contain in the poem “the tiger” that’s “is it possible that the lamb and the tiger are been created by the same perfect being?”; the creator of

the Tyger looks like deeply different compared to the creator of the first poem. In this two poem is confirmed the Blake’s theories of the presence in

the word of totally different beings. William Wordsworth

The Solitary Reaper

In the first stanza the speaker comes across a beautiful girl working alone in the fields of Scotland , in the Highland. She is "Reaping

and singing by herself." He tells the reader not to interrupt her, and then mentions that the valley is full of song. In this stanza is

provided the setting, is presented the main character and is stressed the concept of solitude.

Osservala, sola nel campo,

Quella solitaria Ragazza delle Highlands

Mietendo e cantando da sola;

Fermati qui, o passa soavemente!

Sola lei taglia e lega il grano,

E canta un canto melanconico,

O ascolta! perchè la valle profonda

Sta traboccando con il suono.

The second stanza is a list of things that cannot equal the beauty of the girl's singing: it’s a reflective stanza, in which is introduced

an exotic element.

Nessun usignolo mai cantò

Più benvenute note a stanchi gruppi

Di viandanti in qualche oasi ombrosa

Fra sabbie arabe:

Una voce così penetrante mai fu udita

In primavera dall’uccello cuculo,

Rompendo il silenzio dei mari

Fra le remote Ebridi.

In the third stanza the reader learns that the speaker cannot understand the words being sung. He can only guess at what she might

be singing about:

Nessuno mi dirà cosa canta?

Forse i melanconici versi fluiscono

Per vecchie, infelici, lontane cose,

E battaglie antiche:

O è qualche umile canzone,

Fatto familiare di oggi?

Qualche pena naturale (morte), perdita, o dolore,

Che è stato, e può essere ancora?

In the fourth and final stanza the speaker tells the reader that even though he did not know what she was singing about, the music

stayed in his heart as he continued up the hill:

Qualunque (fosse) l’argomento, la ragazza cantava

Come se la sua canzone non potesse aver fine;

La vidi cantare al suo lavoro,

E sopra la falce piegarsi; --

Io ascoltavo, immobile e fermo;

E mentre salivo su (per) la collina

La musica nel mio cuore portavo,

Molto tempo dopo che non fu più udita.

The Rainbow

Il mio cuore sussulta quando contemplo

un arcobaleno nel cielo:

così era quando la mia vita è cominciata;

così è ora che sono un uomo;

così sarà quando sarò vecchio.

O lasciami morire!

Il bambino è il padre dell'uomo:

e desidererei che i miei giorni siano

legati l'un l'altro da una naturale pietà.