Write a critical appreciation for "The Chimney Sweeper."
This poem is structured as a dialogue between a chimney sweep and a person who questions him. This structure allows the chimney sweep to tell his story in his own words.
The sweep is crying in the snow when someone asks him where his parents are. He answers that they are praying in church. He goes on to say that, as he understands it, because he was happy playing in nature, his parents forced him to become a chimney sweep. This is a terrible life for the young child, as chimney sweeps were kept half starved to fit down the narrow chimneys, had to work hard in a dirty urban setting, and often died young of cancer from the soot.
This young boy contrasts the happiness of his former boyhood with his sadness today and his inward misery with his outward show of happiness:
because I am [seem] happy and...
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dance and sing,
They think they have done me no injury.
What is your interpretation of "The Chimney Sweeper"?
"The Chimney Sweeper" is a poem written by William Blake. It was first published in 1789 and is written from the perspective of a young boy who has had to earn a living as a chimney sweeper from a very young age after his "mother died when (he) was very young."
To understand the meaning of this poem, it is important to remind yourself of the life that a young chimney sweeper would have had at the time. It was a very dangerous and hard life, which sadly meant that many young chimney sweepers ended up sick or even "locked up in coffins of black." Therefore, you could argue that the meaning of the poem is a criticism of its contemporary society, a society which not only used young children to sweep chimneys, risking their health and even their lives, but even encouraged this, just so the rich people could have clean chimneys and live a life of luxury and comfort.
In his dream, Tom Dacre dreams of an angel releasing the dead chimney sweepers, allowing them to lead a life of happiness: "leaping, laughing they run." This clearly underlines the message of the poem, as it shows the stark contrast to what the lives of the chimney sweepers would have been like in reality.
The poem closes with a very sombre message: "if all do their duty, they need not fear harm." You could interpret this as the poet's ironic message that whilst the underprivileged children—who have to earn a living as chimney sweepers to survive—dream of a better life, this is very unlikely to happen. Instead of trying to help these children, society merely expects them to get on with their work in order to stay out of trouble.
What is the essence of "The Chimney Sweeper"?
it is ironic verse that William Blake writes, for while maintaining a non-judgmental tone with the point of view of a child, the poem is a scathing indictment against the exploitation of innocent children by a society that exploits moral platitudes about duty and goodness to promote its own ends. When, for instance, the boy cries about his slavish job and the grime that covers him, the child speaker consoles him,
Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.
Further, the speaker tells Tom, "If all do their duty, they need not fear harm"; in other words, this rhyming moral, like that of a nursery rhyme, ironically preaches that the boy should do his "duty" and submit to his fate, ignoring the cruelty of such a duty.
In another irony, Blake includes his poem in Songs of Innocence and Experience. For, while childhood is normally a time of innocence, the boys who are chimney sweeps experience the evil of a society which exploits children. In a further irony, the children retain their innocence as they fail to understand the guilt of their society and, despite their tender ages, look forward to a spiritual reward for their obedience in the hereafter.
Provide a summary of "The Chimney Sweeper."
The version of "The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Innocence is about a young boy named Tom Dacre. His mother has died, so his father sells him as an apprentice to a man who orders that Tom become a chimney sweep (as many young children were at the time). Tom's hair must be shaved, and this makes him upset. The speaker tells him that this is really a comfort so that his hair does not get covered in soot. That night, Tom dreams of many children who have died in the profession, but now that they are dead, they have been relieved of their burdens and live happily in Heaven. Tom wakes up happy that he will be in God's hands.
In "The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Experience, the speakers looks down on everyone from Heaven and says that they have created the misery under which children must suffer. He says that the only reason why he is dead is because the conditions set up by adults caused his, and others', death.