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.


There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; 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 locked up in coffins of black.


And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and let them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.


Then naked and 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, and never want joy.


And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

William Black

"The Chimney Sweeper" is a poem by William Blake about young children who are sent to work in mines in 18th century England.
Young children are sold by their fathers to work in the mines. They have gruesome jobs, and the workdays are long. However, the boys make the most of it, and they do the job with hope, because God is going to protect them and give them a home in heaven.
To properly look at London in 1757 to middle class parents. When Blake was a child, he saw visions of God and angels. This would be incorporated into his poems in later years, including "The Chimney Sweeper". His parents did not think he was normal, and kept him home for schooling. He learned to read and write, and then enrolled in an art school at age 10. His passion was for poetry however, and dropped out of the art school at age 14. He took an apprenticeship with an engraver. There he learned about Gothic styles that he could use for inspiration in his poetry.
In William Blake’s poem, the reader will read about child labor and slavery portrayed through a child. In the poem “The Chimney Sweeper”, a reader will also notice several things that make this poem stand out and that lead the reader to the theme. Some things in this poem that attract attention is Blake’s use of imagery, diction, and the overall theme. In William Blake’s poem, “The Chimney Sweeper”, Blake conveys the speaker as a generation of children deprived of their innocence due to slavery and child labor characterizing them through his use of words, imagery, opposites, and theme. All of these things contribute to a better understanding of the poem.
The use of diction in “The Chimney Sweeper” helps in understanding the poem. In the first stanza Blake writes “And my father sold me while yet my tongue / could scarcely cry ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!” (3-4). The use of while yet my tongue is describing how young the child is, which is echoed by the child’s mispronunciation of the word sweep. Also, when Blake writes about “in soot I sleep” (4) gives a literal image of the child actually sleeping in soot or can be taken metaphorically that the child is not actually sleeping in soot but his living conditions are just as bad. When Blake writes “that curled like a lambs back” (6) he is trying to create a good visual of how much hair Tom has, and how upset he is that he has to have it shaved off, but in the next two lines “Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your head’s bare, / you know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.” (7- he is being told that it is okay and the speaker tries to help Tom see the good out of the situation. Throughout the entire poem diction plays an important role in fully understanding the poem.
In addition to Blake’s play on words, imagery also played an important role throughout his poem. Most of the imagery is literal, like God, and angel, etcetera.
When Blake himself was young he claimed to have seen visions of God and angels and we can see this very specific imagery in the Chimney Sweeper. Blake seems to be struggling himself with his religious ideas. The contradiction between his belief in God and the world around him shines through in this poem.
Blake puts a bold and raging tone in his first sentence "when my mother died" and in addition "my father sold me" further showing Blake's need to bring out the pain and suffering of the children and sweepers during this period of time.. It does however give the impression that the poem is written by a child, or at least an adult who had the experience that Tom went through. Evidence of this can be seen in Blakes introduction of the first person when Tom receives the advice about his hair. The adding of the dream of Tom adds more mystery and intrigue with the introduction of the "Angel" and "God" to scrutinize the plight of the young sweepers during the 1700's.
stanza =six
Rhyme: Young – tongue/ weep- sleep/ head- said/ bare- hair/ night- sight/ Jack- black/ key- free/ run- sun/ behind- wind/ boy- joy/ dark- work/ warm- harm