...living the lives his works vicariously told, but once his time period ended, a historical book was left behind. The theme of a struggle is most prominently showcased in Blake’s poetry. Whether it be Blake depicting women and their power struggle throughout the 18th or 19th century, or depicting the lives of the children put into the labor force at a very early age. These children were put in a tunnel (almost literally when they worked in the chimneys), where there was no light at the end, this path had one and only one destination: death. The symbolism in Blake’s poetry accurately reflects the cruel conditions of child labor and the environment of hostility in which these children lived and breathed every day, what the church meant in society in the 18th century, and the family dynamics. Clearly marking its importance by publishing multiple items on the subject, William Blake composed two poems about children working in the chimney sweeps both titled “The Chimney Sweeper”. The transition of emotions from the first “The Chimney Sweeper” to the second demonstrates an evolution from purity to exposure (Mayhew 1), which correlates directly to the title of the book in which these poems were published, “ Songs of Innocence and Experience.” Blake’s poetry appears to be detailed to a point where one begins to feel the emotions these people did, if only we could imagine. The vivid images he paints strike as surprising upon learning his background. William Blake had a limited...
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...in William Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” William Blake’s “The chimney sweeper” is narrated by a young boy who is a chimney- sweeper, who tells us about his childhood and his fellow workers. In this poem a contrast of dark and light is shown to give the readers a picture of reality and hope. This essay explores the different dimensions, which are significant in this poem. I will argue that the poet is making a contrast between the innocence and the corruption in today’s world by giving examples and by analyzing the poem thoroughly. In the first stanza the narrator shares his childhood story with the readers. He mentions that his mother died when he was very young and his father sold him even before he knew how to speak. “And my father sold me while yet my tongue, /could scarcely cry” (2-3), in this line the poetic device known as metonymy is used where the poet refers to the speakers voice but says tongue. By this line we understand that his father sold him even before he could cry or understand that he is being sold away. He says that since his father sold him he sweeps chimneys and sleeps in soot. It can be assumed that chimney- sweepers use the same cloth or blanket to sleep, which is used in the daytime to collet soot –“in soot I sleep.” Most of the chimney- sweepers who cleaned the chimney were young children as they were little and it is easy for them to crawl up and do cleaning work. Just like the narrator there was another young chimney- sweeper whose name was...
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...random strangers outside to stop and look at this within the house. When the day of the ritual arrives, all of the family members gather together in the room with the tree. The festivities begin the night before at nightfall. The mother cooked a huge meal with the finest foods the family can afford. In front of the big, fancy tree are multiple boxes covered in colorful paper. When everything is ready, the family gathers around the tree to open these boxes. Each box contains something new and shiny, which is brought by the chimney wizard. A fat man in a red robe and hat with a long white beard wiggles down a narrow chimney left all of those boxes at the tree. The chimney wizard flies through the air, stopping at every home in the world to deliver these sparkly boxes through the chimney that land under the tree. As compensation for his deliveries, the chimney wizard is awarded with a plate of fresh baked cookies that he eats at every house. How the chimney...
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...“The Chimney Sweeper” By William Blake Poetry Essay Debreshia Wright English 102 Professor Dr. Rockford Sansom Due 9/28/14 “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake, opens a door to show the reader how poor and lower class life was like in the 19th century. In the poem by Mr. William Blake “The Chimney Sweeper” the reader learns about the harsh child labor during the 19th century, the fate of a young child and this child belief in God. These young children had a hard life to lead but through this poem you see how these children were able to escape in there thought of heaven. During the 19th century child labor was a normal way of life. It was so much more important to bring home wages than to get educated. Most families were so poor they had to send the children out at very young ages to help gain wages. Mr. Blake expresses this when he says “...my father sold me...” the child narrator was sold in to what seems to be child slavery. In the poem as the child said “yet my tongue could scarcely cry weep, weep…” it refers to the child not being able to speak clearly to say sweep. This child fate appears to have been sealed when his mother died; it also appears the child would make his father appear cruel and unloving. Because the child says “my father sold me...” it does not state my father sent me to work. This poem has a sense of sadness in the beginning, until the child narrator being to talk to Tom. Tom was having his hair shaved off and I am...
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...Opening Opening up an old fireplace is like striking gold in your very own home. In addition to a glowing, warmer, more welcoming living room, you are creating a much healthier and more invigorating atmosphere, and adding to the character of your investment into the bargain. Solid fuel fires are clean and easy to operate, highly efficient, flexible and easy to install. What’s more, you don’t need to be a master builder to tackle the job of opening up a blocked up but otherwise intact fireplace. up All you require is common-sense, some muscle power and, in certain cases, a little professional advice or practical help to ensure that you comply with Building Regulations. Alterations to fires and fireplaces are classified as building work and is subject to Building Control approval. You are advised to contact your Local Authority before commencing work. What follows is the proper sequence of events for a safe and effective revival of open-fire magic in your home. But don’t forget, The Solid Fuel Association offers professional advice where problems are encountered. an BLOCKED UP FIREPLACE OPENING This is what you see before you start the job and it obscures what was a fireplace. HEARTHS The constructional hearth is usually provided when the house is built. It is a concrete slab about 125mm deep that extends beneath the fire and out into the room. There is often a raised decorative hearth called the Old superimposed hearth laid on top of the constructional hearth above the...
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...Poetry Essay, Thesis, and Outline of William Blake “The Chimney Sweeper” COURSE # and TITLE___ENGL 102 Literature and Composition_____ SEMESTER OF ENROLLMENT___Summer 2011____________ NAME__Tammy Boylan______________ID #__L23926585_ WRITING STYLE USED_____APA_____________________ In William Blakes, “The Chimney Sweeper”, this poem is told by a chimney sweep who tells of a younger sweep that is sold into slavery by his father, after his mother dies. The main theme of the poem is that of the loss of innocence of these children, who are depicted in the poem under harsh and abusive treatment in the 1800’s. With their innocence stolen by their parents and their owners these children were forced into confined areas filled with comb webs, and dirty sooty conditions, where their lives were sacrificed to their life of cleaning these chimneys, of which they died of young ages. The narrator tells of the young Tom Dacre’s dream of the only way out of this life of misery. 1. Introduction- William Blake writes of his concern for these children’s well being 2. Body Section – The Poem Overview: 1. The boy’s mother dies at young age (Stanza 1) 2. Sold - Loss of Innocence (Stanza 2) 3. Dream (Stanza 3) 4. Angel (Stanza 4) 5. Hope of a Father (Stanza 5) 6. Their duty (Stanza 6) ...
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...The speaker of this poem is a small boy who was sold into the chimney-sweeping business when his mother died. 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 speaker comforts Tom, who falls asleep and has a dream or vision of several chimney sweepers all locked in black coffins. An angel arrives with a special key that opens the locks on the coffins and sets the children free. The newly freed children run through a green field and wash themselves in a river, coming out clean and white in the bright sun. The angel tells Tom that if he is a good boy, he will have this paradise for his own. When Tom awakens, he and the speaker gather their tools and head out to work, somewhat comforted that their lives will one day improve. Analysis “The Chimney Sweeper” comprises six quatrains, each following the AABB rhyme scheme, with two rhyming couplets per quatrain. The first stanza introduces the speaker, a young boy who has been forced by circumstances into the hazardous occupation of chimney sweeper. The second stanza introduces Tom Dacre, a fellow chimney sweep who acts as a foil to the speaker. Tom is upset about his lot in life, so the speaker comforts him until he falls asleep. The next three stanzas recount Tom Dacre's somewhat apocalyptic dream of the chimney sweepers’ “heaven.” However, the final stanza finds Tom waking up the following morning, with him and the speaker still trapped...
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...Literary Analysis Paper COURSE #: English 102-CO1 COURSE TITLE: Comp & Lit Writing Style Manual Used: MLA Thesis Statement: “The Chimney Sweeper” written by William Blake can easily be confused as to whether it is a poem about how hard work and faith can bring you to the Lord or how being naïve can be extremely foolish. Outline I. Introduction a. Discuss what the poem is about b. Thesis statement II. Describe the literal scene and situation III. Discuss the theme of the poem a. Discuss the theme/mood of the poem. b. Discuss the words used to communicate the theme IV. Discuss how rhyme is utilized in the poem and changes the theme/mood V. Conclusion a. Summary b. Restate thesis English 102 25 March 2012 Analysis of “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake “The Chimney Sweeper”, by William Blake begins with a child telling the story of his own life of being sold into slavery by his father. He explains how he was sold very young after his mother’s death before he could barely even cry. As the title states, the boy was sold to be a chimney sweeper. The child then goes into telling the story of another little boy that is there with him named Tom. He explains to the readers how he had witnessed Tom getting a haircut and how Tom cried for the loss of his white hair. The child, narrator...
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...William Blake wrote two poems with different versions of the Chimney Sweeper. They both describe the lives of two children who clean chimneys and live a harsh life. Blake uses poetic devices such as imagery, tone, symbolism and allusions throughout the poems. In both versions of the poems images of death are demonstrated using the color black. In the version of 1789, Blake says, “were all lock’d up in coffins of black.”, a in the version of 1794, Blake says, “little black thing among the snow”. This demonstrates the soot of the children walking in the snow, maybe going from home to home cleaning chimneys. Moreover, in the 1789 version he illustrates the chimneys ass black like coffins maybe because they are both claustrophobic and very dark. Since the chimneys are very small and pitch dark due to the soot....
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...THESIS STATEMENT & OUTLINE 1) THESIS - The injustices that juvenile chimney sweepers had to endure were selfish, inhumane and riddled with neglect. a) Introduction b) Slavery parallels i) Worked long hours ii) Malnourished iii) Health hazards a) Biblical allusion iv) Sacrificed for selfishness v) Cleansed vi) Reborn vii) Angelic savior b) Theme viii) Innocence ix) Naïve c) Conclusion William Blake’s statement “I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans” appears prophetic in his poem “The Chimney Sweeper”. This becomes apparent in the introduction when the narrator states after his mother’s died he was “sold” into slavery by his father, before he was old enough to verbalize the work he was made to do. The adults in the story failed to protect the innocence of the main characters that had very little choice in the way they lived during this time. Although, there were child labor laws set in place to look after the young workers, for selfish reasons, they were seldom enforced. Robert Blake’s poem “The Chimney Sweeper” is set in London, England during a time when it was common for children to work long hours, for minimal pay and in hazardous conditions. The poem is divided into two sections; it begins in the first stanza with the narrator being the main focus and then later shift to the character Tom Dacre. Who appears...
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...in the poem "the chimney sweeper", blake offers a graphic portrayal of a particular cultural aspects of england in the 1700s. He seeks to show thier loss of innocence in thier childhood by showing chimney sweeper takes away children's freedom and joy. in 1700s, william blake composed a poem about the life of chimney sweeper in "the chimney sweeper". the poem is narrated by a chimney sweeper. he tells a little bit about himself before giving us the lowdoen on another chimney sweeper, tom dacre. after introducing us to tom, he relates a very strange dream that tom had one night, it invovled chimney sweepers in coffins, angels flying, and few othe bizzare things. the poem concludes with tom and the speaker wking up and going to work, sweepin' like they do. in this poem of innocecse i'll prove against child labor; children whi works at thier early ages. in first stanza the narrator tells about a child who is sold by his father after his mother's death. as in first line it says, "when my mother died i was very yoiung". i clarifies, while he was very young his faher sold him to a man who runs chimney sweeper buisness. he started working as a chimey sweeper at his very young age and became a victim of abuse and child labor. in actuality, he was forced to work and clean chimneys without any clothes and shleter. instead of taking care of him his fatgher sold him for money. narrator changes the character in second stanza bu saying "there is a tom dacre who..." from this we can know...
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...Kelsey Rice Mr. Ortolani ELA 12 2 February 2016 The Chimney Sweeper In the late 18th century, an English poet by the name of William Blake wrote two poems about the young sweeps he saw suffering in the beautiful streets of London. He placed one poem in the Songs of Innocence and the other in the Songs of Experience. Innocence and Experience were printed in two phases. In 1789, Blake published of The Songs of Innocence and in 1794, he decided to link them together. Blake, therefore, confirmed his interest in duality at the very beginning in the 1794 edition. When he acquired the fate of chimney sweeps as the topic for a poem in both Innocence and Experience, he gave us at least two ways of seeing and understanding the same social predicament. By comparing Blake’s two ‘Chimney Sweeper’ poems, we can get some logic of his state of mind around innocence and experience as ‘contrary states’. The sweep in Innocence doesn’t recognize the life in which he finds himself. “And my father sold me while yet my tongue could scarcely cry ‘Weep! ‘Weep!’ ‘Weep!” This is one of the many poetic strategies that Blake uses. The repetitive word ‘weep’ is used to show that the child’s language is not sufficient to make sense of his sorrowfulness. He does not know that he has been taught a fabricated language, which makes him believe that sorrow must be a fact of everyday life. Blake proposes that as there is a slight difference in the way the words sound to our ears, so there is little difference...
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...“The Chimney Sweeper” Fictional Poetry Analysis Stacy McGee Liberty University Eng 102 October 17, 2013 Thesis: The poem, “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake depicts the life of a young boy being sold to sweep chimneys. This paper will give insight into the misery, mood and tones of the poem through the eyes of a young child as a chimney sweeper. Outline: I. Theme A. What is the theme of poem 1. Unkindness 2. Faith II. Setting A. Literal Setting 1. Metaphorical 2. Literal III. Mood A. Elements Contributing 1. Misery 2. Hope and Faith IV. Significance A. Is the title significant to content B. Job/Daily living The Chimney Sweeper deals with life in London in the 18th century. As of today, one would look at the narrator’s story as cruelty, child neglect or even child abuse. As we read the poem, we are going to take a look and dissect certain aspects of poem, such as the theme, setting, mood and significance of the title. To begin with, when reading the poem written in 1789 entitled, “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake, the theme of the poem circulates around poverty, unkindness and faith. When looking at the poem from the poverty perspective, the narrator’s mother died when he was a young boy and his father sells him to be a chimney sweeper, when he was so young, he...
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...English 102-B12 LUO Spring 2014 Joseph P Garland Jr L23810423 MLA A literary analysis of “The Chimney Sweeper.” Social Injustice was rampant among chimney sweeps in 18th and 19th Century England... 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. 1. Introduction a. The Chimney Sweeper 2. The Location and Era a. 18th and 19th Century England 3. Point of View a. Tom Dacre 4. Writing Style A. Lack of Rhyme 5. Conclusion William Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” from “Songs of Innocence” provides a view of extreme social injustice among children being used as chimney sweeps in 18th and 19th Century England. William Blake also in 1794 wrote “The Chimney Sweeper” in “Songs of Experience.” For this essay, the analysis will be of “The Chimney Sweeper” from “Songs of Innocence” written in 1789. This poem shows social injustice from the character’s eyes dealing with oppression, exploitations and death. The life that William Blake creates in “The Chimney Sweeper” is one of social and economic injustice, the use of child labor which leads to a society of that time being un-sympathetic to the needs of its children. Blake draws attention from the first stanza of the poem to a child that has already experienced the death of his mother and being sold into indentured servitude by the father before the child could even process the death and what...
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...The Chimney Sweeper Thesis Blake uses many literary devices to portray the hopeless life of the young chimney sweeps. I. Irony II. Imagery III. Symbolism William Blake masterfully uses many literary devices to portray the hopeless life of a young chimney sweep in his poem “The Chimney Sweeper”. The poem has a young, nameless first person narrator which gives the poem a sense of youthful innocence and anonymity that is in direct contradiction to the horrible conditions they suffer. Most of the poem has dark tones that is punctuated by a happy dream of freedom and joy with his true father his creator. The poem ends with a bleak and almost sinister twist of irony that leaves the reader feeling sorrow and shame for the chimney sweepers. Irony is one of the most powerful literary devices employed by Blake. It is seen running through the poem starting with the first lines. The boy’s mother died and his father sold him before he could “cry ‘weep ’weep ’weep. We don’t know why the boy was sold but we could assume that the father wanted to give the boy more opportunity than he could afford to give. This is extremely ironic because the boy is sold into servitude in deplorable, deathly conditions. More irony is evident in the last lines of the poem where the narrator speaks of the sweeper doing their duty to avoid harm. Children should only have the duty of being happy children, not pleasing their masters and working terrible jobs like slaves. Tom’s dream can also be ironic...
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