When songs of innocence and experience was published in 1789, britain was at the height of the industrial revolution. The second chimney sweeper poem by william blake had to do with experience. William blake wrote two poems called the chimney sweeper. It does so in toms dream, in which the little guy sees his fellow sweepers in coffins. Historical context in the chimney sweeper owl eyes. It exposes the appalling conditions of the boys known as climbing boys, whose lot had been. The chimney sweeper songs of experience analysis william. Each of the details blake chooses suggests a return to a state of grace. The chimney sweeper poem is written by william blake. When my mother died i was very young by william blake about this poet poet, painter, engraver, and visionary william blake worked to bring about a change both in the social order and in the minds of men. This lesson is about the poem the chimney sweeper by william blake.
The first poem highlights the life of tom dacre, a chimney sweeper who is born to a world of abject poverty. The point of view in this poem is a child who is a. One of the most prominent artists to dedicate attention to this matter was the romantic poet. William blake was a famous writer of the romantic age which took place in 1832. The poem was used as a broadsheet or propaganda against the evil of chimney sweeping.
In the poem the chimney sweeper from songs of innocence this paper will evaluate and show the story and writing style dealing with social injustice. It is the companion to a poem of the same name that appears in the earlier innocence collection, and works as a kind of update on the plight of the chimney sweepera young boy forced to do the horrible work of cleaning chimneys. Songs of innocence introduction piping down the valleys wild, piping songs of pleasant glee, on a cloud i saw a child, and he laughing said to me. This animation was completed as an english assignment for year 9. The poem was inspired by the first laws that were supposed to make the chimney sweepers life better, but since those laws were loosely enforced blake wanted to draw attention to their horrible situation and wanted society to be aware of this problem to reinforce the existing and make new laws.
The poem is in first person, about a very young chimney sweeper who exposes the evils of chimney sweeping as a part of the cruelties created by the sudden increase in wealth. Analysis of william blakes two chimney sweeper poems. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence analysis will give the readers a peek into the miserable lives of the little kids who had to work as chimney sweepers. William blake and his works have been extensively discussed and criticised over the twentieth and now this century, however previous to that he was barely known.
The poem the chimney sweeper is set against the dark background of child labour that was prominent in england in the late 18th and 19th century. The poem is narrated by an unidentified chimney sweeper who starts off telling the reader about how he got into the chimney sweeping business orphan, child laborer, possibly homeless. One appears in songs of innocence, the other in songs of experience. The chimney sweepers life was one of destitution and exploitation. William blakes the chimney sweeper essay 672 words. It was the time when the industrial revolution took place. Because i was happy upon the heath, and smild among the winters snow, they clothed me in the clothes of death, and taught me to sing the notes of woe. The poem the chimney sweeper by william blake tells of children who are forced to perform difficult and dangerous labor in eighteenthcentury england. The chimney sweeper blake, 1789 wikisource, the free. An analysis of the chimney sweeper in the songs of innocencethis analysis is for songs of innocence.
The chimney sweeper summary from songs of innocence by william blake the poem the chimney sweeper from songs of innocence is about two children who are forced to work as sweepers in a chimney. The chimney sweeper is the title of a poem by william blake, published in two parts in songs of innocence in 1789 and songs of experience in 1794. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence poem summary and. The wash in the river promises a cleansing of the chimney soot and, more figuratively, a baptismal cleansing of sin. The poems chimney sweeper in innocence and experience are meant to convey two different views of human life, the view of innocence and the view of experience. The chimney sweeper by william blake poem analysis. The chimney sweeper songs of experience poem summary and. I presume you are referring to william blakes the chimney sweeper. The poem is told from the perspective of a young chimney sweep, a boy who has been sold into labor by his father. The chimney sweeper is a title of two poems by william blake which is published in songs of innocence 1789 and songs of experience 1792. The poem the chimney sweeper is set against the dark background of child labour, a crude horror of the industrial revolution that was well known in england in the late 18 th century. The chimney sweeper summary songs of innocence william. A comparative study on blakes two chimney sweeper poems.
This gives the impression that it is a happy poem which we late find out that it is not. The chimney sweeper is about a young chimney sweeper exposing the. Songs of innocence and of experience the chimney sweeper. Like tom dacre of the earlier poem, the chimney sweeper is crying.
William blake 28 november 175712 august 1827 a boldly imaginative rebel in both his thought and art. William blakes the chimney sweeper william blakes the chimney sweeper was mainly about the possibilities of both hope and faith. The speaker comforts tom, who falls asleep and has a dream or vision of several chimney sweepers all locked in black coffins. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence summary shmoop. The first appeared in songs of innocence in 1789, while a second poem, also called the chimney sweeper was included in songs of experience in 1794. One is included in the anthology titled songs of innocence and the second one in the songs of experience. He then introduces tom dacre who seems to have a negative attitude on chimney sweeping. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, blakes work is now considered influential in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. He recounts the story of a fellow chimney sweeper, tom dacre, who cried when his hair was shaved to prevent vermin and soot from infesting it. This poem parallels its namesake in songs of innocence. Stuart foster 1 abstract my main task in this essay has been to study william blakes style within two poems that are both named the chimney sweeper. Here are two of the bestknown poems in this collection, both called the chimney sweeper. The poem is made up of symbolism for example, his mother and father are the state and clothes of death are the soot that kills them.
Where that poem posits a subtle satirical message against the type of religion that brings false comfort to abused children, this version strikes directly at the problem. The poem the chimney sweeper from songs of experience by william blake brings into light the animallike condition of children during the 17th and 18thcentury era. In william blakes the chimney sweeper in the songs of innocence there is an immense contrast between the death, weeping, exploitation, and oppression that tom dacre endures and the. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence themes shmoop. The chimney sweeper analysis the chimney sweeper by william blake is a short lyric evoking feelings and experiences of a young boy and his friends working as chimney sweepers. Theres little tom dacre, who cried when his head, 5 that curld like a lambs back, was shavd. This poem is an indictment of those institutions, namely family, the church, and the government, for their. Like many of blakes most celebrated poems, the chimney sweeper in both versions uses fairly straightforward language, although some words of. The speaker tells us that after his mother died he was sold off by his father so that his childlabor could be used to make some money. The chimney sweeper is a poem by english visionary william blake, published in songs of innocence and experience 1794. The poem the chimney sweeper, a poem of six quatrains, accompanied by william blakes illustration, appeared in. For the songs of experience analysis, follow the link. He tells us a little bit about himself first before giving us the lowdown on another chimney sweeper, tom dacre. William blake the chimney sweeper songs of innocence.
William blake the chimney sweeper songs of experience. Though in his lifetime his work was largely neglected or dismissed, he is now considered one of the. What are the themes within the poem the chimney sweeper. William blake was born in london on november 28, 1757, to james, a hosier, and catherine blake. A short analysis of william blakes the chimney sweeper. After introducing us to tom, he relates a very strange dream that tom had one night it involved chimney sweepers in coffins, angels, flying.
From early childhood, blake spoke of having visionsat four he saw god put his head to the window. The background of this poem is the dark side of a prominent child labor in 18 th and 19 th century in england. The industrial revolution is responsible for the advent of steam power, improved methods of transportation, increased use of iron in construction and machinery, the inventions of chemicals and machine tools, as well as countless other. The chimney sweeper analysis of the songs of experience version of the poem will add depth to a readers understanding as this poem shows the pitiable condition of the exploited kids from a mature viewpoint where the speaker is no longer an innocent child but someone who has learnt about the harsh ways of the world the hard way and feels resentment towards this system of the society where. The chimney sweeper poem summary in english and hindi pdf. It is best understood when read in conjunction with the corresponding poem, the chimney sweeper, in the songs of experience. Although the poems connotation is that of a very dark and depressed nature, the religious imagery blake uses indicates that the sweeps will have a brighter future in eternity. The chimney sweeper is a poem by william blake, published in his 1789 collection songs of innocence. He first became known in 1863 with alexander gilchrists biography life and only fully appreciated and recognised at the beginning of the twentieth century. The chimney sweeper is a poem by william blake, published in songs of innocence in 1789. So it makes sense that a poem called the chimney sweeper would face death in some way. The lines have an anapaestic lilt to the rhythm employed.
The poem chimney sweeper is split up into 6 stanzas and has an aabb rhyme scheme. One of them was sold by his father after the death of his mother. William blakes the chimney sweeper essay example for. The background to these poems is one of the many social problems that existed in blakes timethe use of young children as chimney sweeps. The speaker of this poem is a small boy who was sold into the chimneysweeping business when his mother died. A lego stopmotion animation of william blakes poem, the chimney sweeper. The earlier version of the chimney sweeper, from 1789s songs of innocence, this poem would be mirrored by the chimney sweeper from songs of experience. During those days, little children were in demand for the job of sweeping chimneys in england as they. Through this poem, the poet sheds light on the pitiable condition of the chimney sweepers who were being exploited by their masters. The chimney sweeper from songs of innocence and experience.
44 237 587 1614 367 1493 99 804 687 1270 1430 1233 1232 1531 1341 953 1670 1479 1021 1411 669 690 1187 1197 890 167 383 494 412 141 860 130 277 1283 70 1029 720 1063