The Romantic Period - William Blake The chimney sweeper

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• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 6

Songs of Innocence

Songs of Experience

The Chimney Sweeper

The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

• William Blake wrote two poems which he both called 'The Chimney Sweeper'
  
• The first poem was published in 1789, the second one in 1794.
  
• Both poems address the fate of young chimney sweepers from the 18th and 19th century who were often 'sold' by their parents to work in miserable conditions sweeping chimneys

Do you like to enter a really tight space?

Hell no!

I'd rather not

Only if I really have to

no problem!

Decribe a chimney sweeper. What does his body look like?

blind

rough skin elbow and knees

deformed back

black from the soot

Vocabulary - Sleep de vertaling naar het juiste woord

soot

scarcely

spoil

coffin

to leap

tho

harm

duty

roet

nauwelijks

vervuilen

doodskist

ook al

leed

plicht

springen

They need not fear harm

my tongue could scarcely cry

in soot I sleep

Nothing bad will happen. 

I couldn't speak yet

I sleep covered in dirt

08:52

9 inches across =

1. 13,86 centimeter
2. 22,86 centimeter
3. 32,86 centimeter
4. 42,86 centimeter

09:26

Which answer is NOT correct.
These chimney sweepers were:

1. bought from orphanages
2. volunteers
3. sold by their parents
4. kidnapped

www.litcharts.com

www.litcharts.com

Assignments on The Chimney Sweeper

1. What reason is given in the first stanza why the boy had no choice but to sweep chimney?

• His mother had passed away, and his father sold him as a young child.

Assignments on The Chimney Sweeper

2. What is emphasised by the word 'your' in line 4?

• The reader is drawn into the story.

3. The word 'weep' is repeated three times in line 3. What is the effect of this repetition? 

• The repetition expresses the monotony of his life.

4. With what can one compare the 'coffins' in line 12? 

• With the narrow and dark chimneys.

Assignments on The Chimney Sweeper

5a. What is the difference between the first three and the last three stanzas?

• The descriptions in the first thee stanzas are darker and more gloomy than those in the last three.

5b. Give examples that reflect this. 

• died, sold me, soot, cried, shaved, spoil, coffins, black, 4-6: Angel, bright, opened, set free, green plain, leaping, laughing, shine, sport, happy, warm, etc.

Assignments on The Chimney Sweeper

6. Why are Angel, Sun and God written in capital letters?

• They represent Good, or the positive aspects.
  

7. The majority of the poem is written in childlike language. Why does the word duty in the final line look out of place?

• Duty is a typically grown-up word, used in the adult world. A child would therefore not be inclined to use such a word. The fact that he does, however, lends a sense of irony.
  

Assignments on The Chimney Sweeper

• 8. No; dialogue. Someone else poses a question in line 3.
  

• 9. Poem 1: mother died, father sold his son. Poem 2: both parents still living, though they do not care about their son.
  

• 10. Black. contrast to white snow. 

• 11. Innocence.

• 12. a. The parents
  
• b. They destroyed his happiness.
  

Assignments on The Chimney Sweeper

13. The Church and the State, though primarily the former.

14. In the 1st poem, God was a father who made children happy; in the 2nd poem, however, God shows no concern for the misery.