"The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake --> Dramatic Monologue

"The Chimney Sweeper"


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 set 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.

The first thing I noticed about this poem was the contrasting images of dark and light. The speaker and Tom work in dark conditions, covered in soot. However, when they die, they will be "naked and white". Although the coffins are black, the key is "bright" and they will find happiness in heaven.

These images of clouds, angels, and god allude to religion. Through this, Blake says that although one may suffer in life, heaven will bring internal peace and happiness.

There is a use of figurative language in the line "curled like a lamb's back". This simile connects Tom's hair to a baby animal, which shows his innocence and exposes the innocence of all child laborers. This innocence is also exposed by the euphemism used in the line "locked up in coffins of black." Instead of saying that the children died, Blake puts it in kinder words.

Through this poem, Blake is saying that dreams are what make the hardships of life tolerable.