The Chimney-Sweeper (Experience) Analysis

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 made up a heaven of our misery.

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the black thing vs the snow: the child sees himself as a black thing because he gets dirty while sweeping, and the snow refers to environment he lives, the winter, the coldness of the situation.
Where're their parents?: They've gone to the church.They get the child wear the cloth of death and go to pray for him. What a contrast!
In whole, the child gets used to the situation, he gets matured, but still sad. He blames his parents for his sadnness rather than God.

| Posted on 2009-11-14 | by a guest

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what are some good related texts for william blake's poems ?

| Posted on 2009-08-31 | by a guest

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Here is my analysis:
The Chimney Sweeper, experience, depicts the tyrannical oppression that a child endures. Similarly to its innocent counterpart, this child is crying, ‘weep weep’. The snow that the child is in stark contrast to, a mere ‘black thing’, is the veil that displaces the child. The snow is frigid and surrounds the child oppressively, and this sufferer’s abandonment is embodied through the absence of his parents, who are ‘both gone up to the church to pray’. This statement is slightly derogatory on the Church’s part, as its persona is seen to be that of frivolous distractions from more pressing matters i.e. the child. The ‘notes of woe’ that are bleated by the child can be compared to the church songs, as they themselves carry sorrow, imminent plight and, more importantly, regulations. Despite the frost’s foreboding, the child is ‘happy among the heath’, and he/she ‘smil’d’; this transitory glee is stripped from the child after its parents present the child with a uniform, ‘clothes of death’. These clothes of death are simply the church attire: jacket, tie and shoes. However, this attire represents conformity, oppression and a grim sense of being. The notes of woe that were ‘taught’ to the child are the hymns. These songs are sung begrudgingly, but with an absent mind. The last stanza is the a requisite element of the poem’s entirety, as it places ‘God & his priest and King’ in the same group. This denotes scepticism and almost a sense of mockery. The final line, ‘made up a heaven of misery’, can be interpreted as Heaven being fictitious, or, that Heaven is seemingly dull, as it is steeped in regulations, laws and regimes. Aside from the first stanza, which uses rhyming couplets, the second and last are an ABAB rhyming structure, as the child is not alone.

| Posted on 2009-04-27 | by a guest

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A child who gathers pleasure from things thought to be a burden (the snow). To make up for his "innapropriate behavior," His parents dressed him up in a suit and tie (the clothes of death-what you wear to/at a funeral) and forced the church upon him (the songs of woe-songs sung at mass about pretty dreadful topics if you think about it-Jesus Dying, A wrathful God, etc).
He says that because he likes to dance and sing (activities thought to be "the devil" back in old times). That his parents go to pray for him. He doesn't understand why they would want to live such a frivolous life to get into a heaven where all the fun things in life aren't allowed.

| Posted on 2008-06-19 | by a guest

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Uncomfortable relationship between parent and child
Question and answer
Questioning the nature of God – Lamb/Tyger
Crying less than in innocence poem, used to situation, although still sad
Damning of the church, PRO god, but against church

| Posted on 2008-05-20 | by a guest