The Chimney Sweeper
The Chimney Sweeper is the title of two poems by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794.[1] In the earlier poem, a young chimney sweeper recounts a dream had by one of his fellows, in which an angel rescues the boys from coffins and takes them to a sunny meadow; in the later poem, an apparently adult speaker encounters a child chimney sweeper abandoned in the snow while his parents are at church.
References
- ^ "William Blake Page", The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, & the Arts
The Chimney Sweeper
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 smil'd among the winters 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.
External links
Texts on Wikisource:
- The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)
- The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)
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