The Tyger 老虎
by William Blake 威廉·布莱克
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form 8220;what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language 8221;. His visual artistry has led one modern critic to proclaim him 8220;far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced 8221;. Although he only once journeyed farther than a day 8217;s walk outside London during his lifetime, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as 8220;the body of God 8221;, or 8220;Human existence itself 8221;.
Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterized as part of both the Romantic movement and 8220;Pre-Romantic 8221;, for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions,as well as by such thinkers as Jacob Boehme and Emanuel Swedenborg.
Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake 8217;s work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th century scholar William Rossetti characterised Blake as a 8220;glorious luminary, 8221; and as 8220;a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors. 8221;
Historian Peter Marshall has classified Blake as one of the forerunners of modern anarchism, along with Blake 8217;s contemporary William Godwin.
Tyger, tyger, burning bright 老虎!老虎!黑夜的森林中
In the forests of the night, 燃烧着的煌煌的火光，
What immortal hand or eye 是怎样的神手或天眼
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 造出了你这样的威武堂堂?
In what distant deeps or skies 你炯炯的两眼中的火
Burnt the fire of thine eyes? 燃烧在多远的天空或深渊?
On what wings dare he aspire? 他乘着怎样的翅膀搏击?
What the hand dare seize the fire? 用怎样的手夺来火焰?
And what shoulder and what art 又是怎样的膂力，怎样的技巧，
Could twist the sinews of thy heart? 把你的心脏的筋肉捏成?
And, when thy heart began to beat, 当你的心脏开始搏动时，
What dread hand and what dread feet? 使用怎样猛的手腕和脚胫?
What the hammer? what the chain? 是怎样的槌?怎样的链子?
In what furnace was thy brain? 在怎样的熔炉中炼成你的脑筋?
What the anvil? what dread grasp 是怎样的铁砧?
Dare its deadly terrors clasp? 怎样的铁臂
When the stars threw down their spears, 群星投下了他们的投枪。
And watered heaven with their tears, 用它们的眼泪润湿了穹苍，
Did He smile His work to see? 他是否微笑着欣赏他的作品?
Did He who made the lamb make thee? 他创造了你，也创造了羔羊?
Tyger, tyger, burning bright 老虎!老虎!黑夜的森林中
In the forests of the night, 燃烧着的煌煌的火光，
What immortal hand or eye 是怎样的神手或天眼
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 造出了你这样的威武堂堂?