The+Chimney+Sweeper

=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 & 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, & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & 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 & 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 & 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 & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm. =William Blake= Regarded as a seminal figure~ Romantic Age He grew up to love the Gothic Arts The Bible had and early profound influence on Blake's life Blake rejected the 18th century literary trends.

=Theme= Expanding the concern of children's rights Children should be learning and playing, not working in a labor-intensive career.
 * Boys (and a few girls) as young as 5 were apprenticed by their parents

=Imagery= Lamb~ That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said, "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare (line 6) White Hair~ "You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." (line 8) Wash in a River~ And wash in a river and shine in the Sun. (line 16)

=Meter= Rhyme Scheme: aabb and contains near rhymes in stanzas four and five. Simile comparing Tom Dacre's hair to lamb wool. Most lines contain four metrical feet There are Christian allusions to Christ's resurrection and baptism. Effects on Tom in the last stanza

=Works Cited= General Inquiries. "The Chimney Sweeper: When my mother died I was very young." //Poetry Foundation //. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.  .

Hazard, Adams. "'The Chimney Sweeper.'" //A Reading of the Shorter Poems //. N.p.,

 n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015. .

Study.com. "William Blake: Poems, Quotes and Biography." //William Blake: Poems, //

//Quotes and Biography //. N.p., 2003. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.  academy/lesson/william-blake-poems-quotes-and-biography.html>. </range id="545268416_1">

media type="youtube" key="iwcw27cNsAI" width="560" height="315"