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The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

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Background

It is very important know that, on the time this poem was written, England was present process vital adjustments. Most individuals left their farms to hunt employment within the metropolis. Even when they discovered jobs, salaries had been so low {that a} breadwinner might hardly pay the lease and supply for his household. Because of this, slums developed, the place poor folks lived in very unhealthy situations.

On the similar time, the economic revolution was in full swing. It was widespread apply to make use of kids in factories. In addition they labored on farms and in mines. Kids had been required to work as much as 16 hours per day. Their residing and dealing situations had been deplorable. Lots of them had been mistreated and underpaid. Sure forms of work had been initially carried out by very younger kids. Due to the widespread opposition to youngster labor, the working-age was ultimately raised to 10 years outdated.

The primary purpose for thus many kids working was excessive poverty. The brand new legal guidelines concerning the poor had been very strict and unyielding, and when you had been poor, your life was extraordinarily troublesome. Folks had been in determined want of meals as a result of few households might present it. To alleviate the pressure on the remainder of the household, kids had been continuously contracted out (offered) to house owners of mines, factories, or farms to work and keep.

The apply of hiring kids to brush hearth chimneys in London was widespread on the time. Chimneys had been slender and never all the time straight, however the kids had been small and will slot in these small and darkish areas. It was harmful to climb up chimneys of two- and three-story buildings. Smoke from wooden or coal-burning fires stuffed the chimneys with soot, a black residue. Lots of the chimney sweeps developed lung ailments due to their work.

Kind and construction

The poem consists of six stanzas with 4 strains (quatrain). The poet makes use of paired rhyme (aabb, ccdd). Within the closing stanza, the rhyme sample adjustments.

Content material

The chimney sweep explains to the reader that his mom died when he was a baby. When his father offered him to a chimney sweeper, he was very younger (he might barely say the phrase ‘weep’). That is how he ended up cleansing chimneys. He sleeps in ‘soot’ as a result of he almost certainly lacks the sources to scrub his garments regularly.

He tells the reader about Tom Dacre, one other chimney sweep. Tom has curly white hair and seems to be very younger, as he cried once they shaved his head. The speaker tries to console him by telling him that if he would not shave his head, his hair will likely be coated within the black soot from the chimneys, which will likely be very uncomfortable as a result of he will not have the ability to wash it.

Tom had a dream that night time. He had a dream that he and the opposite chimney sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, had been imprisoned in darkish coffins.

Then an angel appeared and unlocked the coffin, releasing them. They may run round on inexperienced grassy fields, wash themselves in a river that flowed close by, after which merely stand round within the solar, clear and comfortable.

They left every thing behind, together with their soiled garments and cleansing provides, and had been lifted into the sky, the place they floated on the clouds and performed within the wind. The angel instructed them that in the event that they had been good, they’d have God as a father and discover pleasure and happiness that will final without end in the event that they had been good.

When Tom awoke, he was relieved by his dream. The thought that there would come a time when life can be higher than it’s now made him really feel higher. Although it was chilly exterior, he was warmed by his dream and the hope it instilled in him. That’s the reason he is able to go to work as a result of he is aware of there will likely be a reward if he does what is predicted of him.

Evaluation

Stanza 1

1 When my mom died I used to be very younger,

2 And my father offered me whereas but my tongue

3 Might scarcely cry ‘weep! ‘weep! weep! weep!’

4 So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

Line 2

Metonymy (a phrase or phrase that stands in for one more phrase) – the poet refers back to the means to talk with the phrase “tongue.”

Line 3

The phrases ‘cry’ and ‘weep’ are repeated to emphasise the horror of his state of affairs. His mom has died, his father has offered him, and he now spends his days cleansing chimneys. Though the boy is younger, he’s unhappy and almost certainly cries (weeps), however he’s too younger to call his feelings.

Repetition: The phrase ‘weep!’ is emphasised to make the reader conscious of the plight of the kids who had no selection however to work due to poverty.

Line 4

‘Your chimneys,’ all those that use chimney sweeps are complicit in youngster exploitation. They’re oblivious to the struggling inflicted on these kids and do nothing to enhance their circumstances.

The black, sticky substance emitted by chimneys is called’soot.’ The youngsters will likely be coated in it after a day of cleansing chimneys. It’s unlikely that they’d have the ability to take a correct bathtub to do away with the dust on account of their poor residing situations. They may be overtired. There is no such thing as a caring grownup who ensures that they wash their fingers earlier than going to mattress. Because of this, they sleep coated in dust. They should have been in a number of ache.

This line additionally makes the reader conscious of how troublesome their lives had been.

Stanza 2

5 There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,

6 That curled like a lamb’s again, was shav’d: so I mentioned,

7 ‘Hush, Tom! By no means thoughts it, for when your head’s naked,

8 You realize that the soot can not spoil your white hair.’

Line 5

‘little Tom Dacre’ To most individuals the chimney sweepers are nameless boys, coated in black soot. They lose their individuality and their humanity. By naming the boy the speaker desires to indicate the reader that they’re boys, they’re nothing greater than little kids.

Line 5 – 6

Simile: ‘his head that curled like a lamb’s again’. The boy’s hair is in comparison with the wool of a lamb which is white and curly. It’s vital {that a} lamb is chosen for the comparability – a lamb is related to innocence and can be a Biblical allusion (reference). Tom is an ‘harmless’ – he’s on this state of affairs as a result of he comes from a poor household. Identical to the lamb, he has no selection about what occurs to him.

Line 8

Diction: ‘spoil’ – means to decrease or destroy the worth or high quality of one thing.

Synonyms are: mar, injury, impair, blemish, disfigure, blight, flaw, deface, scar, injure, hurt.

The speaker talks about spoiling the boy’s stunning curly white hair, however on the similar time, the reader is aware of that it’s not solely the boy’s hair that’s spoiled. These kids’s lives are harmed and scarred as a result of they’re pressured to do work that isn’t appropriate for youngsters. They need to be studying and enjoying and performing like kids; as an alternative, they need to work and reside in horrible situations. These kids lead harsh lives and so they lose their innocence.

Stanza 3

9 And so he was quiet, and that very night time,

10 As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!

11 That hundreds of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,

12 Had been all of them lock’d up in coffins of black;

Line 11

“Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack” – the speaker makes use of names to emphasise that every chimney sweeper is an individual, not just a few anonymous soiled boy who involves do soiled work that nobody else desires to do however is pressured to do.

These names are additionally quite common, and they’re used to remind the reader that there are “hundreds of sweepers,” or poor folks in the identical determined state of affairs.

Line 12

“lock’d up in coffins of black”

Actually, this line merely displays Tom’s dream – all of them are locked up in darkish coffins.

Nonetheless, if one thinks in regards to the lives these boys lead, that is really what occurs to them every single day. They work in very confined areas (like being inside a coffin). It’s darkish and black the place they work.

The concept of a coffin can be vital – though these boys are kids, their childhood is lifeless. They will not be like kids or act like kids. In a way, their future is unsure as a result of they may die whereas doing their jobs or contract an sickness that can result in dying.

This picture of being ‘lock’d up in coffins of black’ is a metaphor for his or her lives.

Stanza 4

13 And by got here an Angel who had a shiny key,

14 And he open’d the coffins and set all of them free;

15 Then down a inexperienced plain, leaping, laughing, they run,

16 And wash in a river and shine within the Solar.

Line 13 – 14

Biblical allusion: Revelations 1:18 – Jesus Christ has the keys to the grave. In Tom’s dream, an angel opens the coffins and units them free.

The implication is that after dying they’ll lastly be free from the horrible circumstances on which they reside.

Line 15 – 16

Distinction: These photographs are of youngsters who do the issues they’re presupposed to do: they bounce and chortle and run exterior. The chimney sweeps are usually not handled like kids and there’s no time to do the issues that kids usually do.

The ‘inexperienced plain’ is an open area the place there’s recent air and grass through which to play. This in sharp distinction to their present lives the place they spend their days in darkish cramped circumstances. They reside in a metropolis the place there aren’t any open areas and so they within the evenings they in all probability return to depressing little hovels the place they need to share the area with many others who’re equally soiled.

Within the dream, they’ve a possibility to scrub – one thing which they’ll hardly ever do of their abnormal lives. Within the dream they’re clear and glossy; in actuality, they’re dirty and uninteresting from all of the soot.

Biblical reference: The concept of being pure and being washed is widespread within the Bible and refers to a cleaning of sins. On this context, the ‘sins’ confer with the wrongdoing of a society that forces kids to work and reside in stunning situations. Within the afterlife, they are going to be free from these ‘sins’ and they are going to be pure and clear.

Personification: ‘Solar’ is written with a capital letter and is used to confer with the presence of God. In God’s presence, the order will likely be restored and the kids will likely be allowed to do the issues God supposed for them to do. Their innocence (symbolized by the lamb’s wool) will likely be restored.

Stanza 5

17 Then bare and white, all their baggage left behind,

18 They rise upon clouds and sport within the wind.

19 And the Angel instructed Tom, if he’d be a superb boy,

20 He’d have God for his father, and by no means need pleasure.

Line 17

Image/metaphor: ‘bare and white’ – These photographs are about purity and innocence. They’re restored to the way in which through which God supposed them to be.

‘all their baggage left behind’ – actually the luggage through which they carry their earthly belongings and the instruments with which they do their jobs. Figuratively they depart behind all their cares and struggling. They’re free of the difficulties of their earthly lives.

Line 18

Metaphor: ‘they rise upon clouds’ – They’re lifted above their earthly cares and sorrows, as symbolized by the metaphor “they rise upon clouds.” That is additionally a metaphor for being in heaven.

‘They play within the wind’ – They get pleasure from themselves within the wind. The wind represents their freedom. The youngsters are liberated and haven’t any extra worries. They’ve escaped from their dreadful lives as chimney sweeps.

Line 19 – 20

Tom is singled out as a result of the Angel speaks to him. As soon as once more the reader is made conscious of the truth that these kids are people and every of them is effective.

Pathos: The promise of the Angel that ‘he’d have God for his father’ makes the reader notice that these kids are with out dad and mom who love them and who maintain them. One is reminded of the speaker’s father who offered him to the chimney sweep. Being a part of a household should be one thing that these chimney sweepers lengthy for. This evokes emotions of sympathy and pity within the reader.

Diction: ‘by no means need pleasure’ – he won’t ever be with out pleasure. This sentence summarises the life the boys could have after dying: It will likely be crammed with pleasure. They’ll lack nothing. As soon as once more, that is in sharp distinction to the lives they reside in the intervening time.

Stanza 6

21 And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dead of night,

22 And received with our baggage and our brushes to work.

23 Tho’ the morning was chilly, Tom was comfortable and heat;

24 So if all do their responsibility, they needn’t worry hurt.

Traces 21 – 23

‘rose in the dead of night’ and ‘the morning was chilly’ and ‘received with our baggage and our brushes to work’

These strains replicate the fact of those boys’ lives – they need to rise up very early whereas it’s nonetheless darkish and chilly. That is very completely different from Tom’s dream the place they might depart their baggage behind and play within the heat climate.

Line 23 – 24

Irony: The speaker tells us that although it is chilly exterior and these kids need to work onerous within the early morning hours, Tom is ok with all of it. He’s cheerful and heat as a result of he believes that when you do your responsibility, you may be secure. In different phrases, if he continues to brush the chimney like a superb little boy, he will likely be taken care of. Blake makes use of irony to display that these kids endure bodily, but in addition mentally and emotionally. Tom’s perception will be regarded as a coping mechanism; the one approach to get by the day is to imagine that they do not need to worry hurt or to keep in mind that issues will likely be completely different at some point, in heaven. Sadly, they endure on account of being exploited.

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Source by Karin Steyn

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