Student: Negar Hossein

Profesor: Vicente Fores Lopez

University: University of Valencia

Analysis of the poem:

"The chimney sweeper" by William Blake

Contents

1. The poem "The Chimney Sweeper", by William Blake

2. My motivation to analyse the poem "The Chimney Sweeper", by William Blake

2.1 Summery of Blake´s poem, "The Chimney Sweeper"

3. The poem´s structure

1. The Chimney Sweeper, William Blake (1789)

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 let 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.

2. My motivation to analyse the poem "The Chimney Sweeper", by William Blake

The poem´s title "The Chimney Sweeper" sounds very interesting for me and attracts me a lot. The reason for that is the fact that the title is very unusual and exciting for me. It provides information which makes me very curious to read about. The poem "The Chimney Sweeper" is a title which is not transparent, referring to the poem´s story and espiacially for paying attention to the 18th century it seems to be odd. In opposition to that, the poem "The French Revolution" gives the reader a precise imagination of his story. Additionally, the following questions are very relevant for me in order to explain my motivation for choosing this poem for my assignment. Why is a chimney sweeper so worth mentioning for William Blake during his time? Which themes have attracted the audiance during the romanticism and what makes BIake´s poem so my opinion it is very interesting to get to know the story and especially the poet´s message to his audiance and what makes the poem so valueable in his age? The audiance honour the poet´s work in order to read it and think about it. My next question is, "what makes Blake´s poem so impressionable that it has survived until today?"

2.1 Summery of Blake´s poem, "The Chimney Sweeper"

The poem "The Chimney Sweeper", written by William Blake is about innocence and purity of young children. The narrator introduces a very young character whose name is Tom Dacre. He symbolizes the state and quality of being pure. The poet describes the young boy as an unlucky person, whose mother is not alive. His father sells him and his destiny is to work as a chimney sweeper. The poem consists of a religous part which emphasizes on Tom´s and his friend´s purity. The reason for that is that they dream of joyfully mental activities. In the end an Angel occurs and influences their conscience so that they do not want to have joy. He prefers to have God as his father and he seems to be emotionally and mentally satisfied.

3. The poem´s structure

The poem "The Chimney Sweeper" consists of six stanzas and each stanza is a quartet. The poem has a nursery rhyme and it is a traditional song. The song has the purpose to teach principles or standards of good behaviour, which is expected by society. The poem seems to be a practical lesson for children about how to behave.

In the following text i will analyse Blake´s poem and explain some rhetorical devices which Blakes uses in order to impress his readers and describe the life of the unlucky sweepers.

One get to know the a mysterios person who speaks in the first person narrator. I guess that this first peron narrator seems to beTom Dacre who explains the reader his situation, because in the second stanza the poet introduces Tom and his story matches with the unhappy situation of the first person narrator in the first quartet.

It is significient to mention that the last five quartets are written in the past tense and only the first quartet is written in the present tense. I like to point out that the fisrt person narrator occurs in the first quaret. This first stanza is very emotional and makes the reader have strong feelings. The poet uses verbs like (to) die, (to) sell (somebody), (to) cry and to sweep. The first sentences of the quartet are very short because the poet wants to hint at the unhappy life of Tom Dacre and lets him explain his situation in the fisrt quartet. The first quartet is like an enumeration of misfortuned incidents of Tom´s life, e.g. his mothers death and the fact that his father sells him in order to work, the act of crying and finally the last sentence, "I sweep and in soot I sleep." The repiticion of the word "weep" (in line 3) is an anaphora and emphasizes his unlucky situation. There is another emphasize which is an alliteration, e.g. "I sweep and in soot i sleep." In my opinion the first quartet is written in a strong way and the poet makes the first quartet very noticeable for the whole story so that the reader is forced to read the whole poem. The poet wants his reader to feel sorry and to feel pity.

In the second quartet there is a comparison, e.g. "There is Tom Dacre, who cried when his head that curl´d like a lambs back, was shav´d... ." The comparison has an important function. Namely, it has the religious function, because of the symbol "lamb" which is very holy for the Christians. In the same quartet there is another significient indication. The poet describes Tom´s hair as white. The colour white represents innocence and purity.

The third quartet points out the fact that the sweepers Dick, Joe Ned and Jack are described as slaves because the poet says that "they all are lock´d up in coffins of black." Blacks were associated as slaves. The forth and fifth quartet an Angel occurs as a symbol of freedom and religion. The Angel gives Tom and his the other sweepers to be free and to enjoy their life by "laughing and leaping." The forth and the fifth stanza show a contrast to the first three quartet because of the fact that Tom is dreaming of freedom and having fun. The explication of the atmosphere is very pleasant like the "shining of the sun, the river and the green plain."

Simultanously, the Angel tries to influence Tom´s conscience by hinting at the fact that if "God would be his father he does not want to have joy."

In the last quartet Tom gets up and has a bad consious, because he is satisfied to know that God is very close to him and that he "does not to fear harm." That is why he acts morally. That is why the poet declares that "he woke up happily and warm and went to work." The last quartet represents again a contrast to the forth and fifth quartet because it seems to be more sad like the first three quartet, but one have to distinct. In the last quartet Tom is awoke and feels happy which is a contrast to the first three quartet referring to his mind and psyche.

Finally, i like to pay attention to the first quatet´s meter. The first