The Chimney Sweeper

(Songs of Innocence)
?
 Structure
• Through the 6 stanzas we are taken through how the speaker came
to be employed as a sweep, the hardship of the life of child sweeps,
the fear of the children and the supposed coming-to-terms with
their lot.

• Seems v much a story-telling type structure. This is further

enhanced by the fact the meter in this poem is very mixed, jumping
from anapestic to iambic even within lines.

• Starts with the plight of the speaker alone and ends with the
hardship of all child sweeps (or perhaps all children in Victorian
society - society in which they were treated very poorly)
• This is a poem of satire. Blake is actually criticising this idea of
“be good, do as you're told, don't challenge anything and you'll
get to heaven”. It was in the Church’s interest that the people
were hard working (continuing to build the power of the
Empire) and asked no questions (therefore those in power could
get away with corruption and immoral practices)
 Children chimney sweeps were
Interesting that Blake reveres the “sold” - bluntly showsusually about 5 or 6 years old.
speaker’s mother but chooses to how at this time
demonise the father. children were seen
only as a commodity
to be traded in and
used.

Puts blame on the

reader. Aimed at
c18th rich people.
Purpose of the
poem is,
therefore, to
evoke guilt
(which backs up This repetition of single syllable “weep” has a rather damning
the idea that the tone, like the pending of nails into the (later mentioned) coffins.
message of ‘do as The sweeps would have walked the streets shouting “sweep,
you're told and sweep” to tout for business. The dropping of the s here shows the
wait for innocent voice of the child.
happiness after The excessive internal rhyme in lines 3 and 4
death’ is to be create a very sharp sound (“eep”)
read as connotative of pain and suffering.
sardonic. )
 Speaker is characterised as
“Lamb” also has obvious connotations of
likeable as he comforts his
sacrifice, innocence etc.
fellow sweep.

Blake's use of dialogue

makes the poem vivid and Symbolic of innocence – link to
What the speaker seems to Ecchoeing Green, too.
realistic, thus increasing
be really telling Tom is that
reader’s sympathy for these
being the victim of other
children. But think deeper - would Blake
people’s evil -doing will not
really be giving this message of
affect the purity of his soul.
‘don't worry what people do to
you; just take it and wait for
death’?
 Creates sense of
Archaic use of “a- immediacy, places the
sleeping” creates quite reader right in the
a creepy tone moment

This listing of
names
highlights the
fact that these
sweeps were
part of a
‘family’ - one
Master Sweep
would employ
five or six
sweeps who he Idea of being trapped, Metaphor - the
would feed and like they are trapped in chimneys are likened to
house (often this system of child coffins - cramped, dark
they weren't labour and full of death.
looked after
very well)
 Repetition of lines which begin with ‘And’ -
Capitalisation in
reflects the tedium of the working lives these
both “Angel” and
young children had to endure
“Sun” denote
personification. In
each instance, what
Suggests this does this suggest?
Angel is Jesus -
that Jesus
provides for.
Christians the
“key” to eternal
life (contrasts the
ideologies
espoused by the
CofE at the time,
Echoes of Ecchoeing Green,
that all you have
in terms of mood and
to do is work
Connotations of pastoral imagery
hard and be good
(again, evidence baptism and
that the message rebirth
of the poem is a
sarcastic one))

Patronising, condescending tone
here created by the simplicity of the
words. Probably this is not the
message of the “Angel” at all, but
the message Blake feels the CofE is
giving out - and which Blake is
satirising
In death, they will leave
behind the hardships of
their current life - the
“bags” are a metaphor,
then for hardship and
misery, worries etc.
“Sport” - play. What
Blake feels
childhood should be
for.
Blake’s religious views were based more on having a
personal relationship with God. Yes, in heaven, the boys
would have God as father and not want for anything but
simply “being a good boy” is not how Blake felt they
would get there.

Language is much more practical
here - details the tools of the trade.
Perhaps showing a sense of ‘back to
reality’
Juxtaposition of cold and warm.
Despite the horrible conditions, Tom is
“happy” (duped?)
Tone becomes more upbeat here (maybe
superficially so, though, as Blake does not really
want us to think ‘everything is okay now’ - it's not
okay! It's not okay that these children were treated
like this and Blake did feel their sympathy so is
really unlikely to be saying it's okay.