The Chimney Sweeper- William Blake
The Chimney Sweeper
William Blake
When my mother died, I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!--
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
GLOSSARY
chimney /tfimni/ a hollow structure that allows the smoke from a fire inside a building to escape to the air outside.
sweeper: -someone or something that wipes something clean .
scarcely: - almost not
weep: -The boy is of such tender age that he cannot even pronounce the word 'sweep. He says 'weep'. This is also a pun on the word 'weep' which means 'to cry.
soot/sut/ a black powder composed mainly of carbon, produced when coal, wood, etc. is burned
coffin/kofin/ a long box in which the body of a dead person is buried .
leap - to make a large jump or sudden movement, usually from one place to another. naked /nerkid/ not covered by clothes.
want :-here, lack.
EXERCISES
Answer the following questions in one or two lines.
1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
The speaker is a young chimney sweeper, likely a boy.
2. When was he sold and who sold him?
He was sold by his father when he was so young that he could barely cry "weep, weep, weep."
3. Why did little Tom Dacre cry?
Tom Dacre cried because his head was shaved, and he missed his white curly hair.
4. What is Tom's hair compared to? Is it a metaphor or simile?
Tom's hair is compared to a lamb's back, and it is a simile
5. Who are Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack mentioned in the poem?
They are fellow young chimney sweepers, like Tom and the speaker.
6. Where were the sweepers locked up?
The sweepers were locked up in coffins of black, symbolizing their grim situation.
7. Who freed the sweepers and how?
An Angel freed the sweepers by opening the coffins with a bright key in Tom's dream.
8. What did the Angel tell Tom?
The Angel told Tom that if he was a good boy, he'd have God as his father and never want joy.
9. How did Tom and the others get ready for work?
Tom and the others got up early, washed in the river, and put on their clothes to get ready for work.
10. Why was Tom happy despite the cold?
Tom was happy despite the cold because of the comforting dream of the Angel, giving him hope.
Summary and Analysis
About William Blake: - Blake was an English poet, engraver, painter, and visionary. He was a romantic poet. His famous poems include Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The Chimney Sweeper was published in two versions, in Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence. He expressed his views on race, the state, and the church. He criticized child labor, which was prevalent during his time in London.
About the poem: -
The present poem is from songs of innocence. Blake explored the harsh realities of chimney sweeps during the Victorian period. Children as young as six years were employed as chimney sweep. Chimneys are long and narrow structures built on big houses for facilitating smoke coming out from the fire in the house. At they were narrow, the young boys were taken for the job to clean the soot deposited on the walls of chimney. This was a hazardous task causing deadly diseases and even death. The poem is set against the backdrop of child labour that was practiced in England in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
The poem comprises six quatrains. (Each quatrain has four lines) The rhyme scheme is AABB. The poem is told from the perspective of a young chimney sweeper. The speaker of the poem is a young chimney sweeper. The boy's mother died when he was young, and his father sold him to a master chimney sweeper when he was so young that he could barely cry, "Weep, weep, weep."
The speaker introduces the little Tom Dacre, a fellow chimney sweeper, to the readers. Tom Dacre's hair was shaved like a lamb's back was shaved for wool. He wept for losing his white curly hair. The speaker tried to soothe Tom by saying that soot couldn't spoil his white hair nor could not catch fire while chimney sweeping. After hearing the speaker's words, Tom became calm and slept peacefully. Tom saw a wonderful dream in which he saw thousands of chimney sweepers, named Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack. They were all locked up in coffins of black, symbolizing their grim situation. An angel came with a bright key. He opened the coffin and set free all the little sweepers. The freed sweepers ran naked leaving their bags, leaping, laughing washing in the river, rose in the clouds, sported in the wind.
The angel told Tom that if he was a good boy, he'd have God as his father and there would never be a lack of happiness for him. Tom and the others got up early, put on their clothes and got ready for work Tom was happy despite the cold because of the comforting dream of the angel, giving him hope.
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