Chimney Sweeper Analysis

To look in the eyes of a child is to see hope in its purest form. Children are our greatest love and who they will become shape each generation. William Blake wrote two poems entitled “The Chimney Sweeper” in which he wrote in rebellion against injustice to the children that were forced to become chimneys weepers. In his first poem entitled “The Chimney Sweeper” was part of his book Songs of Innocence. Blake uses the voice of a child to show the innocence and childlike hope of a better future. In the second poem, published in Songs of Experience, the speaker no longer feels that same hope, but harbors resentment through experience as a lowly cast off by society. Both of Blake’s poems work together to reach the heart of his society …show more content…
In the dream, the speaker shares that Tom dreamed that thousands of children were released from their bondage (from coffins) to be loved by God as a Father. In the first poem, Blake illustrates the faith of a child to believe and find comfort in the promise of a better tomorrow, “Tho’ the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm” (line 23). Children seek to be loved and accepted by the ones who care for them. Tom and the speaker may have been missing their earthy parents, but found hope in being loved by the creator. This poem tugs at the heart of the readers of its time to see the orphaned children as more than just a nuisance to society, but as children deserving to be loved and rescued from being enslaved. In the Songs of Experience, Blake takes a different angle. Instead of focusing on the heart of the child, Blake places more of the shame on society. In “The Chimney Sweeper” (the second one) a child is addressed “as a little black thing” (line 1). Cleaning out a chimney would leave the child covered in black soot. To call the child a “thing” is degrading and illustrates how society viewed the poor …show more content…
The speaker is indeed sad and hurting inside, even if he tries to put on a happy face for his abusers. His caregivers are neglectful and continue to make him clean chimneys with little regard to his true feelings. Blake sums up the powerful message of his second poem, “The Chimney Sweeper” in his last line, “Who make up a heaven of our misery” (line 12). While the children suffer and are lost in misery, their caregivers are living happy fulfilled lives profiting off the children. In Blake’s time, the children who were orphans or whose parents lacked the financial means to take care of them were most at risk to fall prey to the