martedì 29 marzo 2011

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge (1802)

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

William Wordsworth

A view of the City of London from upriver (in the direction of Westminster Bridge) in 1808, which shows the sight of "ships, towers, domes" and the smoke which would have been familiar in 1802

mercoledì 16 marzo 2011

Infant Sorrow - William Blake

Infant Sorrow

My mother groand! my father wept.
Into the dangerous world I leapt:
Helpless, naked, piping loud:
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.

Struggling in my fathers hands:
Striving against my swadling bands:
Bound and weary I thought best
To sulk upon my mothers breast.

Infant Joy - William Blake

Infant Joy

I have no name
I am but two days old. ---
What shall I call thee?
I happy am
Joy is my name, ---
Sweet joy befall thee!

Pretty joy!
Sweet joy but two days old.
Sweet joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile.
I sing the while
Sweet joy befall thee.

mercoledì 9 marzo 2011

Paraphrases, paraphrases ....... (2)

Another example from a different student!

Paraphrases, paraphrases .......