The chimney Sweeper ( SoE) - Poem

The Chimney Sweeper

(Songs of Experience)

By Wlliam Blake

 

 A little black thing among the snow,

 Crying " weep! ' weep! “In notes of woe!

 “Where are thy father & mother? Say? "

“They are both gone up to the church to pray.”

 “Because I was happy upon the heath,

And smiled among the winter's snow,

They clothed me in the clothes of death,

And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

 “And because I am happy & dance &

 Sing,

 They think they have done me no injury,

And are gone to praise God & his Priest

 & King,

 Who make up a heaven of our misery?”

 

The Chimney Sweeper “is a poem by English visionary William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794). It is the companion to a poem of the same name that appears in the earlier Innocence collection, and works as a kind of update on the plight of the chimney sweeper - a young boy forced to do the horrible work of cleaning chimneys. Unlike in the first poem, this sweep can take no solace in organized religion - he is too experienced for that. He is so covered in soot that he is barely recognizable, and explains to the reader that society has oppressed and exploited the natural joyfulness of his youth.

Summary

There is a small black shape in the snow that seems to be crying out in sadness and pain. It is a small child, and when asked where his parents, the child replies that they have gone to pray in church. The child continues: “Just because I used to play happily in green fields, or frolic in the snow, they punished me and took away my happiness. They made sing this song of sadness. “Because of my joyful dancing and singing, they think they've done nothing wrong. They're too busy at the Church, praising God, the priest, and the king –

The authorities that build their fake heaven out of the pain and suffering of boys like me. "

 Themes

 The Organized Religion and Childhood

  “The Chimney Sweeper " is a poem about the corrupting influence of organized religion on society. It specifically suggests that the Church encroaches on the freedoms and joys of childhood and, indeed, robs children of their youth. The poem focuses on a common figure during Blake's time: the chimney sweeper.

 Chimney sweepers were usually young boys forced to climb and clean chimneys, putting themselves in grave danger in return for little more than a meal and somewhere to sleep. Whereas the chimney sweeps in the Songs of Innocence poem of the same title hold on to their religious beliefs as a way of coping with their dire situation , the sweep of this poem knows full well that organized religion is a form of oppression , not salvation . Put simply, the speaker of “The Chimney Sweeper” has seen through the lies of the Church and isn't afraid to say so. He exposes these hypocrisies and deceptions - outlining how they have affected his life and society more widely.

The young chimney sweep is first described as a “little back thing” who is weeping “among the snow.” When asked where his parents are, the child responds that they've “gone up to the church to pray,” suggesting that the Church - a metonym for organized religion - has literally led them astray. His mother and father are too occupied with satisfying their religious authorities to give the young chimney sweep a childhood full of joy and freedom. The Church, the poem thus suggests, is an actively corrupting influence on the sweep and his family. And as the chimney sweeps came from poor families, this perhaps speaks to Blake's belief that organized religion sold fraise hope to those in poverty.

 The chimney sweep then outlines how organized religion - with its rules and limitations - influences the natural progression of childhood. The sweep was “happy " singing, smiling, dancing, and playing outside. But the young chimney sweep is forced to sacrifice his childhood in order to become a laborer (to the advantage, of course, to those in positions of power). That's why has been clothed in “clothes of death “and” taught [...] to sing the notes of woe.” Organized religion, the poem then suggests, helps society absolve itself of any guilt for exploiting its children in this way. “They think they have done me no injury, “says the sweep. In other words , people think that as long they do what the Church tells them to then they will be rewarded by God ( indeed , this is what the sweeps in the Innocence poem

Would have to clean the chimneys of the middle and upper classes). Ultimately , then , the poem is scathing about organized religion - implying it that it is something separate from spirituality , faith , and the true meaning of a relationship with God .