the chimney sweeper (experience)

line 9-10

"And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, At the beginning of the final stanza, the chimney sweeper continues his sad story. He says that his parents think they haven't done him any harm because he still happy, and dances, and sings. The chimney sweeper doesn't seem very happy, or very tuneful; maybe his parents don't realize that his "song" is made up of the notes of woe. Since these lines don't rhyme, we can probably bet that this stanza will follow the ABAB rhyme scheme set up in the second stanza.

line 3-4

"Where are thy father and mother? Say!"-- "They are both gone up to the church to pray. Instead of leaving the poor kid alone, the speaker asks him a question. He seems a bit concerned for the little guy, because he wants to know where his parents are. But he's also more than a little abrupt. He practically demands the kid tell him what's up ("Say!") The chimney sweeper says that his parents have gone to church. And there's that perfect rhyme again. Say and way. Look out for this pattern of rhymes to continue—or be broken.

line 11-12

And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, Who make up a heaven of our misery." The chimney sweeper again tells us that his parents have gone to church, where they "praise God and his priest and king." Well that sounds nice enough, right? Right. But then he goes on to tell this passer-by (our speaker) that this dynamic trio makes up "a heaven of our misery." Okay, that doesn't sound so nice. But what does the phrase "make up a heaven of our misery" really mean? Does it mean that God and his priest and king make the chimney sweeper's misery a little less miserable by adding a dose of heaven to it? We don't think so. Or does it mean that God, his priest, and his king enjoy themselves at the kids' expense? In other words—they're all happy-go-lucky while the kid toils in their chimneys? Or does it mean that God, his priest, and his king think there's a heaven because they assume that these little chimney-sweeping kiddos are totally happy with their lousy lot (maybe because they dance and sing), when in fact they're totally miserable? It's a tricky line, for sure, but in any case, one thing is certain: this little boy is implicating God, the church, and the government in his suffering. And his parents, too, for that matter. He may be a kid, but he definitely has some strong opinions. And we think he might be acting as William Blake's mouthpiece here. Blake uses the kid's words to blame these social institutions—religion, the church, government, family—for treating these children as slaves.

music

It's kind of surprising but there's a lot of music in this sad poem. We have two references to "notes of woe," and in the last stanza the chimney sweeper says he is happy and sings and dances—or at least people think he's happy because he sings and dances. Music thus refers both to misery ("notes of woe") but also to things that one can do to stave off sadness and comfort oneself. Which makes sense—there are sad songs, happy songs, and songs for just about every emotion in between.

black and white

Soot is black; the child is, presumably covered in it, but he's also "black" in another way. He seems marked for death—he wears the "clothes of death" (7)—and stands in stark contrast to the white snow. The whiteness of the snow is a symbol of nature, of naturalness, and it contrasts with the very unnatural life of the chimney sweeper.

church

The sweeper tells the speaker two times that his parents have gone to church. But in this poem, that's definitely not a good thing. The child's parents, for example, are more concerned with their religious obligations than they are with the fact that they're child is out alone in the snow. Moreover, it seems like God and his "priest" are no good either; they "make up a heaven" of the child's misery.

line 5-8

"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. This little chimney sweeper doesn't stop there. Actually, he's quite the talker. Now he's going to tell us his whole story. Because he was happy, smiled a lot, and had fun in the great outdoors, his parents dressed him up in clothes of death and taught him to sing sad notes. Okay, so this isn't quite literal, right? We mean, what are clothes of death? That's gotta be a metaphor for something. Does this refer to a chimney sweeper's uniform? An outfit one might wear in a coffin? The two, for Blake, are synonymous (because chimney sweeping was dangerous, led to the death of one's childhood, etc.). Did the parents literally teach their child to "sing the notes of woe"? Probably not. This is also a metaphor for the way his parents forced him into this terrible job. And that terrible job has made him cry, so in a way, his parents are responsible for his woe. There are some interesting causal relationships going on here, aren't there? Apparently this kid's parents made him miserable by forcing him into this chimney sweeping job because he was so happy. What's up with that?

line 1-2

A little black thing among the snow, Crying "'weep! 'weep!" in notes of woe! Okay, okay, so this isn't exactly a sentence. Still, we can work with it. These lines seem to be an observation. The speaker sees a little black thing in the snow. And that little black thing is sadly crying "'weep! 'weep!" That's all well and good, but what in the world is this little black thing? A person? An animal? We're gonna go ahead and guess that it's the subject (and title) of the poem—a chimney sweeper. That also means that this little black thing is a young boy, because in Blake's day, that's who swept chimneys. The fact that this little guy is referred to as a thing is telling. The speaker doesn't even see him as a person. Harsh. The chimney sweeper probably looks black because he's covered in soot. There are more than a few things we can notice about these lines, poetically speaking. First, there's the stark contrast between the soot-covered boy and the pure white snow he's sitting in. That's quite an image. Then there's the rhyme—snow and woe. That's a perfect rhyme, nice and neat, and since these two lines go together, we call this a rhyming couplet. Notice anything else? Of course you do: the meter. It goes a little something like this: daDUM dadaDUM daDUM daDUM. Be sure to head on over to "Form and Meter" for more on this lilting rhythm.

summary

The speaker sees a child covered in soot, lying alone in the snow. Good start. The child tells him that his parents, who have forced him into chimney sweeping, are praying at a nearby church. The end.