The Chimney Sweeper

The Chimney Sweeper is a poem from Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake. It is located in the Songs of Experience section.

Related Topics:
Songs of Innocence and of Experience - William Blake - Songs of Experience

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Perhaps this poem is best understood when read in conjunction with his earlier poem, The Chimney Sweep, located in the Songs of Innocence collection.

Related Topics:
The Chimney Sweep - Songs of Innocence

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In The Chimney Sweep, Blake seems to emphasize the common belief of the time that all will be well for those who do right by fulfilling their duties or social/moral obligations. At the time the poem was written, the Church still held a considerable amount of power (even if mostly on a psychological level), and being that Blake was a romantic, he is likely to have been in opposition of such power and control, as Romanticism stressed individual thoughts and ideas while denouncing absolutism.

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Perhaps Blake wrote "The Chimney Sweep" to serve more as a satire or mockery of the Church's efforts to "obligate" the people of England, as evidenced by the young boy's naivity in believing the angel in his dream. At any rate, "The Chimney Sweeper" can be considered a more "experienced" response to the earlier poem with the similar title.

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In "The Chimney Sweeper", Blake clearly denounces the Church, as evidenced in his depiction of the child sweeper dying in the snow while his parents are in church. The poem seems to serve as the reality of the child's fate, despite the angel's promise and the child's sense of duty. Again, when reading the two poems in conjunction, the reader can infer a more complete understanding of Blake's message than when read individually; that message likely being that religious men (the Church) have no influence on God's will, and ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide for themselves what is right.

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