The Chimney Sweeper Summary by William Blake

William Blake wrote a poem with the initial title "The Chimney Sweeper" that was released in two parts: Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794.

"The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Innocence and Experience provides some sort of update on the situation of the chimney sweeper-a young kid compelled to do the unpleasant task of cleaning chimneys-and is the companion piece to a poem of the same title that comes in the previous Innocence series. In contrast to the previous poem, the new one is too wise to find comfort in organized religion. The author tells the audience that society has repressed and taken advantage of the genuine excitement of his youth, even though he is hardly recognizably wrapped in dirt.

About Author

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printer who lived from November 28, 1757, to August 12, 1827. The Chimney Sweeper Author William Blake was a visionary poet. His poems are straightforward, yet they contain deep concepts. Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence were among his best works. Both songs approach the same subject in different ways. Blake, who was mostly unknown during his lifetime, is today regarded as a key player in the development of Romantic-era poetry and visual art. Songs of Innocence and Experience is a book by him that is among his best-known works. It was released in 1789 and was influenced by monks' illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages. The Tyger is the title of one of his best-known poems. The Good and Evil Angels are the name of the picture he painted. He never viewed himself as a poet or an artist; rather, he saw himself as a craftsman.

The Idea Behind the Poem

William Blake wrote a poem with the initial title "The Chimney Sweeper" that was released in two parts: Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794. The work of poetry "The Chimney Sweeper" is written to oppose the frightening atmosphere of child labor that was prevalent in England in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Due to their small height, boys as young as four and five were sold and forced to sweep chimneys. These kids lived a life of suffering that was socially acceptable at the time while still being repressed. In this line of labor, kids were often undernourished and inadequately dressed. Most often, young children pass away due to lung damage from inhaling dust, falling from chimneys, or other dreadful illnesses. In the previous poem, a young chimney sweeper describes a dream that one of his friends had in which an angel freed the boys from their coffins and carried those to a bright and sunny meadow; in the later poem, a presumably mature speaker comes across a young chimney sweeper who has been left in the snow while both of his parents are at church or perhaps even died, where the church is used to refer to being with God.

Summary of "The Chimney Sweeper"

Two kids are sent to work as chimney sweepers in the poem "The Chimney Sweeper" from Songs of Innocence. Once his mother died, his father gave away one of them. When the second kid, Tom Dacre, cries his eyes out when his head is shaved, the younger kid attempts to comfort him. Tom has a dream the next night in which he is promised a better life in the future. He felt better the following morning and went to his job cheerfully. Here, the poet does not seem happy with this. He sharply criticizes the religious ideas instilled in the minds of the poor and laborers so that they would continue to work, pay taxes, and never speak out against the rich or the church.

The poem is broken into six sections, each with four lines, and it rhymes with AABB. After reading the synopsis and the poem, you are also going to experience the suffering Blake is attempting to make us feel.

Stanza 1

A little child recounts his depressing existence as well as the tragic stories of other chimney sweeper youngsters in the first twenty-four lines of William Blake's poem, "The Chimney Sweeper." The small youngster recounts how his mother passed away when he was quite young. When he was young enough to not even be able to say the word "sweep," he was sold by his father to a Master Sweeper instead, and he cried constantly. The sorrowful meaning of the pun created by the word "weep" appears three times in the third line of this stanza. Like him, the majority of chimney sweeps had an accent that caused them to pronounce sweep as "weep." Since he was a little child, the youngster has been cleaning the chimney and spending the night inside his soot-covered body without cleaning it off.

Stanza 2

The small speaker tells the tragic story of Tom Dacre in the second stanza. In several of Blake's writings, this persona is quite well-known. Tom was referred to as "Dacre" because he lived in Lady Dacre's Almshouse, which was tucked away between Buckingham Road and St. James Street. The almshouse only let in the needy among its residents, who were foundling orphans. The youngster, Tom, may have been sold to a master sweeper by a foster parent to represent him. In the same way, a lamb's back has been cut for wool, Tom cried when his head was being shaved. Then the narrator instructed Tom to stop crying and stop talking. Because there wouldn't be any chance of lice breeding in the pate or of hair catching fire, the narrator advised Tom to maintain his cool.

Stanza 3

The tale of Tom, who was comforted by the narrator's words of comfort, is continued in the third stanza. Tom saw an amazing vision while sleeping the same night. In his dream, he saw the deaths of numerous chimney sweepers by the names of Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, and the remains of these men were found within cage-like coffins constructed of dark wood.

Stanza 4

The vision comes to fruition in the fourth stanza. A brilliant, key-wielding angel approached the caskets. The angel freed all the corpses from their slavery to coffins by opening the coffins holding them. The small chimney sweepers who had been let free raced along a green field, bathed in a river, and then dried in the sun, leaving behind a spotless shine. For these chimney sweeps, who were finally set free from the chains of child labor, exploitation, and enslavement, this was a joyous occasion.

Stanza 5

The little child proceeds to describe Tom's dream vision in the fifth stanza. After bathing, the young boys were all white and nude. They had left a collection of clothing behind, so they were nude. When they died, they also threw off the sacks of soot and the weight of life. The small chimney sweeper lads are now white and nude and travel the clouds while having fun in the blowing air. Blake uses the concept of free-floating clouds as a visual sign of liberation from the physical limitations of the body. The angel assured Tom that if he behaved well, he would have God as his father and would never be without happiness.

Stanza 6

Blake's poem The Chimney Sweeper's last stanza describes how Tom woke up and his dream vision disintegrated. Tom and the other young sweeper lads got out of bed in the pitch black. They prepared for work by grabbing their bags for dirt and the scrubbers they needed for washing the chimney. Tom felt warm and content after having the dream, despite the chilly morning.

We are given a lesson in the poem's last line: If everyone does their responsibility, they need not fear any damage. The last verse depicts the sweepers' existence in all its realism. Ironically, the contrast between the image of summer brightness and this gloomy, chilly reality is profound. Despite the victims' satisfaction, readers are aware of the exploitation of their trust.

Themes Present in the Chimney Sweeper Incident

1. Innocence

Every person's youth is the happiest and most memorable period of their lives, yet in the poem, the young chimney sweepers' childhood is stolen from them. The difficulties of their lives have caused them to lose their innocence. They get up early and put forth a lot of effort cleaning the chimneys; as a result, they spend their whole lives breathing chimney dust. They don't play or attend school. They solely engage in fantasy play.

2. Death

Cleaning chimneys is a difficult and unpleasant job. Young chimney sweepers put in long hours to get their work done, which causes them to get various illnesses and pass away too soon. They endure suffering not only physically but also psychologically and emotionally. The tiny Tom saw his deceased fellow sweepers in the coffins, just as in the poem. It also implies that these sweepers will die young or that they have already died in many respects since they have lost their youth, innocence, and independence. These poor, tiny chimney sweepers have absolutely no lives.

3. Suffering

The youthful chimney sweepers endure a great deal of physical, mental, and emotional suffering. They avoid going back to their houses. They labor all day long and get up early, yet nobody looks out for them. Even if they have various illnesses and pass away too soon, it doesn't matter to anybody.

In the poem, the speaker describes how the sweeper's father forced him to work as a chimney sweep when he was unable to even talk well. Little Tom's head was trimmed, and he sobbed loudly. In his dream, he saw many sweepers imprisoned in coffins. Since their youth was gone in the chimney smoke, they could only play in their dreams.

4. Child Labour

It serves as the poem's central idea. In this poem, the author calls our attention to the brutality and unfairness of our society. Even though it is illegal, child labor is a widespread practice in our culture. The poet sheds light on a significant industry that uses child labor and promotes injustice. By using the dream of a little child who was lately a victim of this illegal activity, he makes his point quite clearly.

5. Hope

In his dream, Tom saw many dead sweepers imprisoned in the coffins, but he also saw an angel approaching them with a shining key. With the key, he freed them all from their coffins. The group then traveled to a lush area, where they explored and talked freely before taking to the sky. The angel and his shining key serve as symbols of hope. Every young chimney sweeper wastes their life in the soot, but they also hold out hope that someday things will change for the better. They also hope for a miracle or an angel who will deliver them from this evil work so they may spend their lives in freedom.

6. Religion

In Tom's dream, an angel came as their savior and unlocked their closed caskets. Tom was also spoken to, and he was shown the way. He urged him to treat everyone kindly so that God would adopt him and be his father. It explains how chimney sweepers' religious convictions help them overcome difficulties and give them the strength they need to operate under difficult conditions.

7. Abnormal Care from Parents

Although children are their parents' duty, they may also be challenging. Such parents relieve themselves of their responsibilities by giving them to someone or disowning them. This has led to the majority of children working in the chimney-sweeping industry. In the poem, the speaker describes how his father abandoned him and sold him to a horrible company when he was too weak to even properly speak or cry out for help. Therefore, this poem also depicts carelessness and a lack of parental guidance.

Conclusion

The poem's climax in The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence) would occur after he awakens from his dream. When he wakes up and resumes his job surrounded by soot, he feels hot despite the cold because he is certain that if he is excellent, he will reach paradise on Earth. With this conclusion, you may take a few different routes with understanding the story, now to grasp more understanding the idea behind the poem, we need to conclude deeply into the poem.

The two poems together tell a moving tale of a youngster who is born into extreme poverty, sold by his father, exploited as a chimney sweep, and subsequently comes to the realization that God, acting via the priests and king as His agents, is to blame for the situation he is in. The tale of the chimney sweeper tells the tale of many underprivileged youngsters who were forced to undertake a tremendous amount of risky labor for very little compensation during the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

Through this story, Blake makes observations on society, especially its religious component, which would provide these youngsters with treatments rather than assistance, in addition to the terrible circumstances of the children sold into chimney sweeping. The fact that the speaker and Tom Dacre leave the vision and return to their hazardous labor shows that these kids are unable to assist themselves and that trustworthy, sympathetic individuals must step in to provide for their needs.