The Chimney Sweeper

William Blake

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.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: 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; and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and 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 and 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, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

1. Being a chimney sweep in the 18th century was awful. Characterize the boy who speaks in this poem. How do his and the poet's attitudes toward his lot in life differ? Look specifically at lines 3, 7-8, and 24.

The boy seems to have accepted his lot in life. He doesn't know anything else, this is what he's been doing his whole life. In line 3 ("Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!") the boy is simply stating that he was a tiny child when he was sold to his master. The poet is sarcastic--the boy was made into a chimney sweep before his tongue could even form the word.

Lines 7-8, ""Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."--while the boy speaking appears to be trying the make the best of his and his friend's situation, the poet is mimicking the attitude of those who let these boy be made into sweepers. Complaints are met with "oh, it's not so bad" and a careful does of spin.

Line 24, "So if all do their duty they need not fear harm."--again, the boy is making the best of his situation, and imagining a happy future for himself if he keeps working hard. The poet, on the other hand, is hinting at the treatment of the boys. Obedient, hardworking boys do not get punished.


2.The dream in lines 11-20, besides being a happy dream, can be interpreted allegorically. Point out possible significances of the sweepers' being "locked up in coffins of black" (12) and the Angel's releasing them with a bright key to play upon green plains.

The sweepers locked up in black coffins in the dream are locked up in black coffins in their lives, trapped inside of confining chimneys. I think the poet is talking about reform and putting an end to the labor these boys are sold into and forced to do.