The Gain of Self-discovery: From Innocence to Experience
William Blake’s The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Experience aim to show the two “contrary states of the human soul” by presenting paired poems respectively focusing on the bright and dark sides of the world and human spirit. Among these poems, the two versions of “The Chimney Sweeper” explore the issue of child labor in the 18th century of England from children’s perspective. By comparing the two poems, readers will find that although the former belongs to the “happy songs” that “every child may joy to hear” (“Introduction” 19-20), and the latter is a “note of woe” (“Sweeper” 8), they both in essence narrate exploitation and misery in one way or another. The contrary states of …show more content…
They are forced to become sweepers at a time when they are incapable of language, as the child narrator recalls, “my father sold me while yet my tongue / could scarcely cry “ ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!” (3-4). The lisping pronunciation ‘weep’ instead of ‘sweep’ exposes the child’s blank consideration of himself as a labor. Under such circumstance, what causes sadness for little Tom is not the adults’ exploitation of him, but the fact that “his head that curl’d like a lamb’s back was shav’d” (5-6). The two children’s perception of their job still remains at a superficial level. Therefore, the child narrator’s naïve consolation, “when your head’s bare, you know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair” (7-8), works out for little Tom. In his dream, the description of his physical state ‘naked & white’ indicates that Tom has not fully realized his new identity as a sweeper who is doomed to be spoiled by soot (17). In “The Chimney Sweeper” from The Songs of Experience, the little sweeper shows a complete realization of his status and misery as a child labor. Turned into ‘the little black thing’ (1), the little sweeper awakes from the dream where he is ‘naked and white’, and articulates his misery to the speaker, regarding the soot as ‘the clothes of death’, the sweepers’ street cry as ‘the notes of woe’ …show more content…
In “The Chimney Sweeper” from The Songs of Innocence, the outcome of little Tom’s lack of self-discovery is his obedience to God’s instruction to ‘be a good boy’ and believe that God will set him free from ‘the black coffin’—a metaphor for the soot in the chimney (14-19), which significantly helps to frame the child sweeper’s illusionary happiness. In Blake’s interpretation, it is God (the Angel) who tempts the little Tom to accept the work ethic “so if all do their duty, they need not fear harm” (25), and such acceptance without doubt in reverse succeeds to stop little Tom from facing up to the real and brutal living condition, i.e., the process of self-discovery. In the other version of “Sweeper” from The Songs of Experience, the little sweeper manifests an obvious denial of God, claiming that “God and his Priest and king make up a heaven of our misery” (12). Realizing his isolated existence from the church and God, the alienation between the chimney sweeper and God could be both the motive and outcome of the sweeper’s self-discovery gained along with the increase of experience. For Blake, the skepticism of God and religious institution is a vital part of the experienced soul of the child and the main determinant of his
William Blake’s The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Experience aim to show the two “contrary states of the human soul” by presenting paired poems respectively focusing on the bright and dark sides of the world and human spirit. Among these poems, the two versions of “The Chimney Sweeper” explore the issue of child labor in the 18th century of England from children’s perspective. By comparing the two poems, readers will find that although the former belongs to the “happy songs” that “every child may joy to hear” (“Introduction” 19-20), and the latter is a “note of woe” (“Sweeper” 8), they both in essence narrate exploitation and misery in one way or another. The contrary states of …show more content…
They are forced to become sweepers at a time when they are incapable of language, as the child narrator recalls, “my father sold me while yet my tongue / could scarcely cry “ ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!” (3-4). The lisping pronunciation ‘weep’ instead of ‘sweep’ exposes the child’s blank consideration of himself as a labor. Under such circumstance, what causes sadness for little Tom is not the adults’ exploitation of him, but the fact that “his head that curl’d like a lamb’s back was shav’d” (5-6). The two children’s perception of their job still remains at a superficial level. Therefore, the child narrator’s naïve consolation, “when your head’s bare, you know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair” (7-8), works out for little Tom. In his dream, the description of his physical state ‘naked & white’ indicates that Tom has not fully realized his new identity as a sweeper who is doomed to be spoiled by soot (17). In “The Chimney Sweeper” from The Songs of Experience, the little sweeper shows a complete realization of his status and misery as a child labor. Turned into ‘the little black thing’ (1), the little sweeper awakes from the dream where he is ‘naked and white’, and articulates his misery to the speaker, regarding the soot as ‘the clothes of death’, the sweepers’ street cry as ‘the notes of woe’ …show more content…
In “The Chimney Sweeper” from The Songs of Innocence, the outcome of little Tom’s lack of self-discovery is his obedience to God’s instruction to ‘be a good boy’ and believe that God will set him free from ‘the black coffin’—a metaphor for the soot in the chimney (14-19), which significantly helps to frame the child sweeper’s illusionary happiness. In Blake’s interpretation, it is God (the Angel) who tempts the little Tom to accept the work ethic “so if all do their duty, they need not fear harm” (25), and such acceptance without doubt in reverse succeeds to stop little Tom from facing up to the real and brutal living condition, i.e., the process of self-discovery. In the other version of “Sweeper” from The Songs of Experience, the little sweeper manifests an obvious denial of God, claiming that “God and his Priest and king make up a heaven of our misery” (12). Realizing his isolated existence from the church and God, the alienation between the chimney sweeper and God could be both the motive and outcome of the sweeper’s self-discovery gained along with the increase of experience. For Blake, the skepticism of God and religious institution is a vital part of the experienced soul of the child and the main determinant of his