This dream seems to suggest that if the boys are obedient workers, they'll get into heaven. Implicitly, though, the poem takes issue with this idea, suggesting that it's a form of indoctrination for the Church.
The companion poem of the same title, published in Songs of Experience , makes this position—that promises of heavenly salvation are simply a means to exploit child labor—crystal clear.
When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry "weep! Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. Illustrations and Other Poems — A resource from the Tate organization, which holds a large collection of Blake originals.
Blake's Visions — An excerpt from a documentary in which writer Iain Sinclair discusses Blake's religious visions. Blake's Radicalism — Another excerpt from Sinclair, this time on Blake's radicalism. A Poison Tree. The Chimney Sweeper Songs of Experience.
The Clod and the Pebble. The boys carry on with their terrible, probably fatal work because of their hope in a future where their circumstances will be set right. This same promise was often used by those in power to maintain the status quo so that workers and the weak would not unite to stand against the inhuman conditions forced upon them. What on the surface appears to be a condescending moral to lazy boys is in fact a sharp criticism of a culture that would perpetuate the inhuman conditions of chimney sweeping on children.
Clearly, his present state is terrible and only made bearable by the two-edged hope of a happy afterlife following a quick death. Blake here comments on not just the deplorable conditions of the children sold into chimney sweeping, but also the society, and particularly its religious aspect that would offer these children palliatives rather than aid. That the speaker and Tom Dacre get up from the vision to head back into their dangerous drudgery suggests that these children cannot help themselves, so it is left to responsible, sensitive adults to do something for them.
Lamb here symbolizes innocence, meekness and naivety. White Hair: The color white stands for purity, innocence and cleanliness. White hair in this poem expresses purity and innocence of children. Black Coffins: Black is the color associated with gloomy, dark and bad stuff. So black coffins in the poem symbolize a place where people are stuck due to their sins. Bright Key: Bright is the word that carries hope. Key contains message of freedom.
Therefore, the bright key is a symbol of the mercy of God, which frees the foul souls from their darkness and brings them light and freedom. Background to Literature. Oedipus The King. Prologue to Canterbury Tales. Pride and Prejudice.
Lord of the Flies. Metaphysical Poetry. A Tale of Two Cities. Old Man and the Sea. The Rape of the Lock. Introduction of the Poem: The Chimney Sweeper is one of the most popular poems of William Blake about poverty and child labor.
Stanza 1 The speaker starts telling us in the start of the poem that his mother died when he was a small boy. Stanza 2 Now, the chimney sweeper introduces us to his friend Tom. Stanza 3 Here the speaker further explains that on the same night his friend Tom saw a strange dream.
Stanza 4 In this stanza, Tom stops seeing the dreading black coffins. Stanza 6 Finally, the dream ends. Analysis of the Poem: The first stanza introduces the speaker, a young boy who his circumstances force into the hazardous occupation of a chimney sweeper. You can reach her at javaria. Search for:. Apr At the time this poem was written, chimney sweeps were mostly comprised of child laborers who had an extremely difficult life and were unprotected in British society.
Chimney The following image, published in an edition of Mechanics Magazine, demonstrated the difference between the safer, mechanical method of cleaning chimneys that had been developed and the child-labor chimney sweep method. Cross-section of a seven flue stack in a four storey house with cellars. The climbing boy has reached the chimney pot, which has a diameter too small for him to exit that way. The climbing boy is stuck in the flue, his knees jammed against his chin.
Wikimedia Foundation, n. BBC, n.
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