The poem is told from the perspective of a young chimney sweep, a boy who has been sold into labor by his father. 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. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, blakes work is now considered influential in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. After introducing us to tom, he relates a very strange dream that tom had one night it involved chimney sweepers in coffins, angels, flying. The chimney sweeper is a poem by english visionary william blake, published in songs of innocence and experience 1794. When songs of innocence and experience was published in 1789, britain was at the height of the industrial revolution. 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. One of them was sold by his father after the death of his mother.
The chimney sweeper blake, 1789 wikisource, the free. 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. Like many of blakes most celebrated poems, the chimney sweeper in both versions uses fairly straightforward language, although some words of. It is best understood when read in conjunction with the corresponding poem, the chimney sweeper, in the songs of experience. The chimney sweeper poem is written by william blake. The chimney sweeper is a poem by william blake, published in his 1789 collection songs of innocence. The poem was used as a broadsheet or propaganda against the evil of chimney sweeping. The chimney sweeper poem summary in english and hindi pdf. William blakes the chimney sweeper essay 672 words. 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. 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. What are the themes within the poem the chimney sweeper. William blakes the chimney sweeper essay example for. 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.
Sold at a young age, tom has very little choices in terms of his life options. 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. William blake the chimney sweeper songs of experience. Like tom dacre of the earlier poem, the chimney sweeper is crying. 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. 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. The wash in the river promises a cleansing of the chimney soot and, more figuratively, a baptismal cleansing of sin. The chimney sweeper from songs of innocence and experience. Though in his lifetime his work was largely neglected or dismissed, he is now considered one of the.
Abuse, cancer, early deathyou name it, they faced it. Analysis of the chimney sweeper by william blake poem analysis. Songs of innocence and of experience the chimney sweeper. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence summary shmoop. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence poem summary and. I presume you are referring to william blakes the chimney sweeper. The chimney sweeper songs of innocence themes shmoop. A short analysis of william blakes the chimney sweeper. 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.
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. Analysis of the chimney sweeper by william blake college. 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 is a title of two poems by william blake which is published in songs of innocence 1789 and songs of experience 1792. During those days, little children were in demand for the job of sweeping chimneys in england as they. 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.
This poem is an indictment of those institutions, namely family, the church, and the government, for their. The chimney sweeper summary songs of innocence william. William blake 28 november 175712 august 1827 a boldly imaginative rebel in both his thought and art. The chimney sweeper is a poem by william blake, published in songs of innocence in 1789. One appears in songs of innocence, the other in songs of experience. 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 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. There are two chimney sweeper poems by william blake. The poem the chimney sweeper, a poem of six quatrains, accompanied by william blakes illustration, appeared in. He tells us a little bit about himself first before giving us the lowdown on another chimney sweeper, tom dacre. 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 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. The chimney sweeper songs of experience poem summary and. The sweep meets a new recruit to the chimney sweeping gang.
He then introduces tom dacre who seems to have a negative attitude on chimney sweeping. Here are two of the bestknown poems in this collection, both called the chimney sweeper. 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 was born in london on november 28, 1757, to james, a hosier, and catherine blake. This gives the impression that it is a happy poem which we late find out that it is not. Each of the details blake chooses suggests a return to a state of grace. The background to these poems is one of the many social problems that existed in blakes timethe use of young children as chimney sweeps. So it makes sense that a poem called the chimney sweeper would face death in some way. 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.
For the songs of experience analysis, follow the link. The lines have an anapaestic lilt to the rhythm employed. From early childhood, blake spoke of having visionsat four he saw god put his head to the window. The chimney sweepers life was one of destitution and exploitation. 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. The poem the chimney sweeper by william blake tells of children who are forced to perform difficult and dangerous labor in eighteenthcentury england. 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. The speaker of this poem is a small boy who was sold into the chimneysweeping business when his mother died. William blakes the chimney sweeper william blakes the chimney sweeper was mainly about the possibilities of both hope and faith. The chimney sweeper from the songs of experience by william blake. The background of this poem is the dark side of a prominent child labor in 18 th and 19 th century in england. Analysis of william blakes two chimney sweeper poems. 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. Theres little tom dacre, who cried when his head, 5 that curld like a lambs back, was shavd.
William blake the chimney sweeper songs of innocence. A lego stopmotion animation of william blakes poem, the chimney sweeper. Through this poem, the poet sheds light on the pitiable condition of the chimney sweepers who were being exploited by their masters. It does so in toms dream, in which the little guy sees his fellow sweepers in coffins. One of the most prominent artists to dedicate attention to this matter was the romantic poet. An analysis of the chimney sweeper in the songs of innocencethis analysis is for songs of innocence. William blake was a famous writer of the romantic age which took place in 1832.
Chimney sweeper as the intrinsic aspect and child labor exploitation of the poem as the extrinsic aspect. One is included in the anthology titled songs of innocence and the second one in the songs of experience. 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 point of view in this poem is a child who is a. William blake wrote two poems called the chimney sweeper.
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 poem chimney sweeper is split up into 6 stanzas and has an aabb rhyme scheme. 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. Historical context in the chimney sweeper owl eyes. 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. This animation was completed as an english assignment for year 9. The chimney sweeper is about a young chimney sweeper exposing the. 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. The chimney sweeper poem summary in english and hindi by. Chimneysweeping was a dirty business, and those kids suffered a ton. This lesson is about the poem the chimney sweeper by william blake. The second chimney sweeper poem by william blake had to do with experience.
It exposes the appalling conditions of the boys known as climbing boys, whose lot had been. It was the time when the industrial revolution took place. The chimney sweeper songs of experience analysis william. 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. 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. This poem parallels its namesake in songs of innocence. 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.
1284 857 1269 1197 1130 1041 332 798 376 1150 1014 449 299 529 710 1520 714 1430 406 665 785 646 1254 562 414 178 1129 303 303 1489 1109