The poem
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 & in soot I sleep.
Theres little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curled like a lambs back was shav'd, 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. & that very night. As Tom was a sleeping he had such a sight That thousands of sweepers Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black,
And by came an Angel who had a bright key And he open'd the coffins & 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 & 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 & never want joy.
And so Tom awoke and we rose in the dark And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
It should be noted that the child crying "'weep! 'weep!" (noted as it is there, it becomes clearer) is a reference to the refrain chimney sweepers would call out in the streets, "Sweep! Sweep!" This is what a child's lisping attempt at the call would sound like, and it obviously has more meanings than one.
William Blake wrote "The Chimney Sweeper" of "Songs of Innocence" in 1789. In the next to last line of the first stanza, the cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" is the child's attempt at saying "Sweep! Sweep!," which was the chimney sweeper's street cry. This poem shows that the children have a very positive outlook on life. They make the best of their lives and do not fear death. This is quite the opposite in it's…
Read the whole commentWilliam Blake wrote "The Chimney Sweeper" of "Songs of Innocence" in 1789. In the next to last line of the first stanza, the cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" is the child's attempt at saying "Sweep! Sweep!," which was the chimney sweeper's street cry. This poem shows that the children have a very positive outlook on life. They make the best of their lives and do not fear death.
This is quite the opposite in it's companion poem in "Songs of Experience" which was written in 1794. In this poem, the child blames his parents for putting him in the position he was in. He is miserable in his situation and he also blames "God & his Priest & King". This point of view is different from that of its companion poem because the chimney sweeper has been influenced by society and has an "experienced" point of view
This poem is about a child as a Chimney Sweeper. He has a positive outlook on life because of his friends dream that when they die they will have a better life with God and an Angel will set them free from these "coffins" they are in.
This poem is so sad. I love the way William Blake can pull you in and make anyone understand. It is quite the opposite of the "Songs of Experience" one I must say.
This a very sad poem because it reflects how the chimeny sweepers were suffering but they didnt show it nevertheless they were trying to be happy by imaging positive thing such as Angels and God.
Chimeny sweeper
Poetry is a bunch of bullshit ;) kis 2imkon wa7ad wa7ad