The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake - Essay Example

Teacher’s The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake Thesis: The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake is the call to abolish child labor which existed in the 18th century English society. William Blake (1757-1827) is a great English poet and painter. The time during which Blake lived and worked is called Romanticism. Artworks of romantic era, especially literature pieces are marked by emotionalism, subjectivism, and imagination. Blake’s poetry and paintings are focused on two broad themes - God and human nature. The poet was particularly interested in study and analysis of individual traits of character of every personality as well as distinct features between individuals (The Life and Works of William Blake). Blake’s major poems are represented in two collections: Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. First collection of poems has many similar images of children, besides it presents many religious and social themes. The name of the collection implies that the themes and issues are present from the perspective of a child. The world is shown in the light which is different to the one an adult sees it. In his two collections of poems Blake presents the same themes, but in different lights and from different angles using words ‘innocence’ and ‘experience’ for collections’ titles. On the one hand, the contrast of the issues presented in the two great collections is strikingly vivid. However, on the other hand, the two opposing visions of life are equally important and necessary for better understanding of the wholesome picture of reality. State of innocence is a child’s vision of things and understanding of the world, while state of experience is a mature person’s perception of reality. One cannot be without the other. Two components, child’s innocence and adult’s experience, put together can create a wholesome picture of the reality and the world we live in. The poet makes his best to present all the truth of life through contrasting images of his two complementary collections of poems (Gallant 124). Blake’s intention is to change reader’s mind for the better by identifying evils and corruptions present in English society. He makes his contemporaries think of the reality they live in and perceive it objectively and adequately. Songs of Innocence is the representation of childhood and naiveté it entails. Blake’s poem The Chimney Sweeper is one of the poems published in Songs of Innocence (1789). The poem contains all the hopes, fears, and naiveté altogether a child might experience, especially during the time when child labor was such a popular social tradition. The events of the poem take place in the 18th century London. At that time poor parents had a tradition of selling their children to be chimney sweepers (Fulford 39). The central theme of the poem is child labor existing in England during the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Because little children were small in size, they were sold by their parents to work as chimney sweepers (Gallant 124). The narrator tells about a dream of one of his fellows, who is also a chimney sweeper. The dream is about an angle that comes to save the children and let them out of dark coffins: “And he opened the coffins and set them all free” (14). And they find themselves in a nice and green area beside a river. After the boy wakes up, the dream gives him hope that one day he will be freed from his ‘black imprisonment’ by his chimney work. The poem has the AABB rhyme scheme. While the language of the poem is simple, the life truth it reveals is terrible: “When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me…” (1-2). One can expect nothing positive after such a beginning of the poem. However, the young personality of the poem has rather optimistic mood and hope for a better life. Reading the poem one tends to change his or her perceptions about life. If a little child could hope for the better life, so can I. So, the poem is intended to change minds and hearts of readers about their life perceptions. At the same time, however, the poet has one more poem with the same title The Chimney Sweeper, which was published in another collection, Songs of Experience (1794). In this poem Blake reflects on such issue as slavery of African American (The Life and Works of William Blake). The issue is looked at from the perspective of a mature adult, not of an innocent child. William Blake’s literary works are full of expressions of antislavery mood. The great poet was against child labor as well as slavery that found its reflection in his poems and prose (Fulford 42). Human callousness is reflected through the very first lines of the poem The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence: 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 (1-4). The narrator of the poem is an innocent child who reveals his life story starting from the time of beginning of his apprenticeship. The poor child began to work even before he could learn how to speak properly. Instead of calling out “Sweep! Sweep!” while advertising his trade, the child could only say ‘weep! ‘weep! Telling his story the child does not realize himself the terrible truth of his situation and callousness of the adult world. Full of corruption and injustice society is criticized in many Blake’s poems. So, the reader feels sorry for the innocent child, who cannot grasp all the seriousness of the harsh reality because of his naïve and limited outlook. Poet’s placement of his poems into the collection titled Songs of Innocence sharpens reader’s attention. In this particular poem, Blake employs the character of a little boy, “little Tom Dacre”, to look at life of the chimney sweeper closer and show more details of their miserable existence. Crying of the little boy over his shaved head is a heart wrenching scene. The narrator tries to find something positive in such a turn of the boy’s destiny saying, “Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your heads bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair” (7-8). The narrator is addressing particular reader in the line “So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep” (4) that is the English upper class. The pronoun ‘your’ indicates all those people for whom little children provide service of sweeping chimneys. However, these little children have to sleep in filth or ‘soot’ just because they are treated as chimney sweepers and nothing more. Blake appeals to the reader with the only purpose which is to wake up sleeping social conscience and stop exploitation of children. Thousands of sweepers such as Tom, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack are unfortunate workers whose wishes were made known to the public through Blake’s poem. Children who were paid chickenfeed or were not paid at all were supposed to do a difficult job. Such state of reality is insulting to human dignity (Erdman 23). William Blake could not stay aside and pretend not to see unjust and callous exploitation of children. Even though children are immature and do not understand all the nuances of the adult world, they, as any of human beings, deserve their human rights to be respected. Furthermore, the great poet does not only criticize and blame the upper class for social injustice; he goes as far as to condemn the church for the institutionalized inequality present in English society of the 18th century. The little boy’s dream with images of coffins and an angel implies religious themes. Religious people are aware of existing injustice towards children and they let it continue (Erdman 24). Blake gives direct hint that Tom’s dream gives him hope for a better life. However, Tom (as well as other children) has to be “a good boy” and only under such a condition he would be granted a right to “have God for his father and never want joy” (20). Such angel’s promise is conditional and implying responsibility about which chimney sweepers should never forget. To be ‘good boys’ they have to continue to perform their primer duty which is sweeping chimneys. Metaphorical meaning of Tom’s dream reveals the harsh reality which can be seen only to adults. Little children expect help from angel and God and, thus, from church. Yet, a little boys’ night vision is only a dream and nothing close to reality. The church and priests are indifferent to children’s destiny (Fulford 42). Blake’s contemporaries might have disliked The Chimney Sweeper as well as many other poems of the writer, because they were too real revealing unjust and humiliating reality of social order of that time. Many people pretend not to see the real state of things rather than admit that they are wrong or, even worse, unjust. Heartlessness and misery of children’s life represented through The Chimney Sweeper and many other poems of Songs of Innocence is intended to change readers’ minds and make them act to stop the cruelty and injustice created by human race. Tom feels very happy after having such a nice and promising dream. However, it is quite clear to the reader there are no miracles in the real world and that no angel will come and stop the exploitation of children. The very last two lines of the poem are similar to a happy ending with which every good story ends: “Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; So if all do their duty they need not fear harm” (23-24). Consequently, the end of the poem is a call for action to stop injustice. Every wise and honest reader would admit that such state of reality is wrong and it is inhumanly cruel to use little children for sweeping chimneys. Blake’s poem presents the reader the whole life of a little boy with all the hardships, routine, and hopes for the better days. The entire life of little human being can be seen to the reader. Despite the hard work and difficulties, the main hero of the poem is full of optimism. Positive mood of the poem and optimistic outlook on life of the children are powerful tool, which is capable of changing readers’ hearts and minds. Furthermore, according to Fulford this particular poem of Songs of Innocence is “an exploration of the psychology of one who struggles to liberate himself from complicity with his position, racially and socially, as an inferior and an other” (42). William Blake makes his readers critically think of child’s labor, which was so popular during his lifetime. Many Blake’s contemporaries could have disagreed with him. However, Blake reached his aim, because he made his contemporaries think of the existing state of things concerning child labor. The two powerful authoritative social poles which were a church and a state did nothing to stop the injustice and put an end to exploitation of children. Lines of Blake’s verse are the vivid example of callous attitude of society to children, who where treated as the means or, simply, cheap and silent workforce. After reading a poem such as The Chimney Sweeper reader’s mind cannot stay untouched or unchanged. Heart wrenching facts of children’s life and everyday work are appealing to everyone who used to be or still is a child. Innocent and immature human beings are full of hope and optimism (Gallant 125). William Blake became popular only after his death and this fact can be explained. In his works the poet revealed the truth which neither the upper class nor the church wanted to admit. Consciousness of Blake’s contemporaries was haunted by the truth of his poems. They knew it was unjust to exploit children and, at the same time, they let injustice to continue with the help of their rigid inertness. Revolutionary time of Romantic age presented us one of the most talented poets and painters, William Blake. His poem The Chimney Sweeper from The songs of Innocence collection is one of the well-known verses about child labor in the 18th century London. Blake was the active opponent of institutionalized injustice and social flaws which were children exploitation. The young chimney sweepers could not speak well and, yet, they already had their duty to clean chimneys of the ruling upper class. Blake’s poem greatly influenced consciousness of his contemporaries. Even though it is hard to admit, but often human callousness does not have limits and, thus, has to be identified and stopped by other more conscious and wise human beings. Works Cited Erdman David V., and Harold Bloom (Ed.). The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake. Toronto: Random House, 1988. Fulford, Tim. “A Romantic Technologist and Britains Little Black Boys.” Wordsworth Circle 33.1 (2002): 36-44. Gallant, Christine. “Blakes Antislavery Designs for Songs of Innocence and of Experience.” Wordsworth Circle 39.3 (2008): 123-125. The Life and Works of William Blake. Skoletorget. 2004. Web. 18 November 2010. Read More