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“The Chimney Sweeper”
from Songs of Innocence and
Songs of Experience
These poems offer perspective into the
oppressive, dangerous work of London’s
18th century chimney sweeps
Blake’s poems were
created in response to
the British
Government’s failure to
protect children forced
into this dangerous line
of work.
The children were often
taken from orphanages
but some families sent
their young boys (and
occasionally girls) to
work for chimney
cleaning services.
Britain’s Act for the Better
Regulation of Chimney Sweepers
and their Apprentices in the late
1700’s stipulated that sweepers
“should not begin work until they
are eight, they should be washed
once a week, and they should not
be made to climb chimneys with
fires in them”, but this law was
loosely enforced, and Blake felt
greater emphasis should be placed
on the safety of these sweeps.
It was not until 1875 that criminal
charges against the exploitation of
children were enforced, long after
Blake’s death in 1827.
Blake, fired with
the ideals of
equality and
justice for all, was
appalled by this
type of social evil
and saw it as a
reflection of the
sickness of his
society.
We will start with Songs
of Innocence
Pay attention to:
•The innocent, naive tone
of the child narrator
•Dark and light imagery
•General mood of
optimism
•Diction: what language
would you use as
evidence to prove that the
speaker is a child?
With a partner, record notes on the following
stylistic elements within the poem:
•
•
•
•
•
Tone
Mood
Diction
Rhythm and Rhyme Scheme
Imagery
Tone
• In spite of the terrible conditions, the
narrator displays an innocent acceptance
of his fate.
• As a result of his innocence and
ignorance, he is unable to question or
protest.
• He cannot look at his plight with insight
and therefore he accepts his fate.
Mood
• Ironically, the general mood is optimistic.
• The speaker does not become enmeshed
in misery and self-pity but rather clings to
the positive, the dream in which the Angel
with the “bright key” “set them all free”.
More on the positive mood:
• As an experienced sweep, the narrator consoles a
new recruit, Tom Dacre, who “cried when his
head…was shav’d”, a common practice, since hair
would collect large quantities of soot. However, the
speaker reassures Tom that the shaving of his
head is a good thing, for “the soot cannot spoil
your [his] white hair”. The speaker’s ability to find
the silver lining of every cloud embodies the
tragedy of the poem—the children’s ability to
remain innocent and optimistic in such a hopeless,
oppressive environment.
Diction
• The words “’weep, ‘weep, ‘weep” are written with
an apostrophe before the “w” indicating
incompletion. Is the boy so young that he
cannot say the “sw” sound and so his message
is ironically delivered as “weep” instead of
“sweep”?
• Blake uses the child’s inability to form speech, a
problem associated with young children, to show
the injustices of putting such young children in
such a dangerous line of work all the while
invoking pity in the reader.
Rhythm and Rhyme Scheme
• The rhyme scheme is regular and creates
Blake’s typical musicality.
• Iambic pentameter with a multitude of
significant flaws make up the metrical
form. For example, “mother”, “father”, and
“chimneys” are all trochees which disrupt
the rhythmic pattern and allude that these
three subjects are connected.
Imagery
• Contrasting dark (“soot” and “coffins of
black”) and light (“bright” and “shine”)
• Simile used to describe Tom Darce’s hair
“that curl’d like a lamb’s back”.
• An angel of mercy unlocks the sweepers
coffins thereby liberating them from their
oppressed lives (Tom’s dream embodies
the incredible coexistence of innocence
and experience that Blake describes
throughout his collections of poems).
Two important questions:
1. How does Blake question religion
in “The Chimney Sweeper”?
2. Explain how the pronoun “your” in
the fourth line affects the reader’s
experience.
1.The Angel’s focus on being “a good boy” and doing
“their duty” brings about Blake’s questioning of religion
and the accusation that it brings about false hope. In
context of the poem, “being ‘good’ means continuing in
Tom’s enforced labors” (Essick 54), presenting an
open-ended conflict in the mind of the reader. Though
Tom is reassured by the speaker’s efforts and the
Angel’s promise that if they “all do their duty, they need
not fear harm”, the Angel is acting as an agent to quiet
revolt against the injustice of this oppressive labor. In
essence, Blake is showing the downsides of innocence,
for “the comforting sentiments of innocence will have
terrible consequences for these boys” (Essick 54).
2. In addition to blaming religion for giving the sweeps
false hope of a better life, Blake, as a part of his social
commentary, also blames humanity in general for
allowing and encouraging such a dangerous and
inhumane practice. By using the word “your” in the line
“so your chimneys I sweep”, Blake “implicates the
reader in the circle of exploitation” (Essick 53). Blake
claims that by supporting the sweeping industry,
society as a whole is perpetuating and encouraging the
oppressive conditions in which the young sweeps live.
“The sweeps’ trust in the justice and benevolence of
the very world that has injured them is terribly pathetic”
(Leader 46); Blake invokes a feeling of guilt in the
reader by juxtaposing Tom’s dream with subtle
accusations of society’s betrayal of these young
children.
Black and white –only two…
Tom’s dream…
“The Chimney Sweeper” from
Songs of Experience
• In this poem there is a pressing issue that
was only hinted at in “The Chimney
Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence. What
is it?
• Comment in the irony present in the poem.
• How do these poems relate to “London”?