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Chimney Sweeper William Blake: Religion, Appeared in 1786. He Belongs To

- William Blake wrote the poem "The Chimney Sweeper" about young boys who were forced to work as chimney sweeps in London. - The poem depicts the harsh conditions the boys faced, being forced to sleep in soot and having their hair cut off. One boy, Tom Dacre, has a dream of being freed by an angel and washing in a river. - The poem criticizes the hypocrisy of a society that allows such cruel child labor but praises God and religion. It shows the innocence and suffering of the boys, who are oppressed and forced into dangerous work at a young age.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
219 views6 pages

Chimney Sweeper William Blake: Religion, Appeared in 1786. He Belongs To

- William Blake wrote the poem "The Chimney Sweeper" about young boys who were forced to work as chimney sweeps in London. - The poem depicts the harsh conditions the boys faced, being forced to sleep in soot and having their hair cut off. One boy, Tom Dacre, has a dream of being freed by an angel and washing in a river. - The poem criticizes the hypocrisy of a society that allows such cruel child labor but praises God and religion. It shows the innocence and suffering of the boys, who are oppressed and forced into dangerous work at a young age.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Amit Mandal

Rc college Chimney sweeper


William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter
and printmaker. He spent most of his life in
London. His first illuminated work natural
religion , appeared in 1786. He belongs to
romantic age. William Blake has written two
poems titled the chimney sweeper and the
marriage of heaven and hell. The poem
follows the Rhyme-scheme of AABB.
Innocence is shown in the poem. The
narrator unquestionly accepts his
repression. His father has traded him for
money, and dehumanizes him as if he is
mere a object or possession. His father has
sold him because he has no way to take
care for him after the death of his mother.
The boy was not even able to properly
pronounce the word sweep when he was
sold by his father. Weep is used as a pun
which creates the image of a crying child
who was abandoned. This young boy is
attempting to cope up with the harsh world.
This young boy has been forced into
chimney sweeping since birth.
Then Blake discusses the condition in which
these sweeps work and live, how the
sweeps choose to deal with them. These
sweeps were forced to sleep in the soot.
Tom decree is a sweep who is introduced in
the second stanza. He represents all the
sweeps and how they deal with the loss of
their innocence, by crying as a children.
Tom decree who is deeply sad because his
hair was cut. His hair is curly like the hair of
a lambs wool. Blake uses the word lamb as
it symbolizes sacrifice. Lamb also gives the
image of a young innocent sheep that is
controlled by a shepherd. The narrator tries
to keep comfort his fellow sweeps, Tom
decree, by explaining him that his head is
being shaved and thus the soot can’t spoil
his white hair. Now, Tom had a dream in
the night. The dream of a thousands of
children named dick, joe, ned, jeck who are
also chimney sweepers. He sees heaven in
which an angel descends, and frees those
children from the black coffins. The phrase'
bright-key' suggests the freedom. Now,
they are attracted to something which is
bright. These happily running children, they
go through from rivers to green grass and
to a bright sun. Tom dreams of washing in a
river to clear his soot. They are now naked
and they are flying on clouds in the wind.
We can think of these bags as an example
of metonymy as these bags represent the
chimney-sweeping profession. Tom has a
conversation with the angel who advice him
to escape the cruelty of child-labour. The
angel tells him that if he is a good boy, God
will be his father.
In the final stanza, Tom is awake and he
rises to go to work. He is not afraid. He shall
live upon this hope, that one day he will be
saved, he will have God taking care of him.
The irony peaked here because he has to
face the reality of the world which is still
cruel, destructive.
In the songs of experience the sweep
understands the fact that he is a victim of
oppression from society. Blake begins the
poem with metaphor. A black llittle thing it
refers the chimney sweeper
They are covered in the soot from long days
of working in the chimney. The word snow
Is the purity that is believed in England. He
is running in the snowy-weather and he is
crying in pain in search of his parents. We
find a irony here the boy is working in the
chimney whereas the parents are busy to
make happy the God. The boy says that he
was happy and smiling in the snowy
weather because his parents has sent him
to this place.
The phrase ‘ they clothed me in the clothes
of death it means the lifestyle that he will
now living in the chimney. The most
disheartening point is that the parents
believe that they have done no immortal
acts. They him to live a miserable life. The
chimney sweeper again tells us that his
parents have gone to church, where they
praise god and his priest and king.
The priest and king, they represent heaven.
It means that God, and his priest and king
make the chimney Sewppers misery a little
less by adding the word heaven which is
peaceful.

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