Romantic Period "The Chimney Sweeper: Songs of innocence and Songs of Experience"

Tamara Mahmoud

Mrs. Wilson

English IV B

5/12/13

Title

William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper: Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience have many characteristics that were influenced by the Romantic period. During this period, the people of Europe had to endure the harsh outcome of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst these people were the children. Songs of Innocence is a poem that is pure, trustful, and full of emotion, while in Songs of Experience it shows the aftermath of working as a chimney sweeper; a life that is corrupt and full of knowledge about the fact that life isn’t going to get anywhere.

In the Chimney Sweeper: Songs of Innocence, a young boy has just been sold off by his dad to a chimney sweeping business. The idea off innocence in this poem is portrayed in many ways. The impression that the boy “could scarcely cry ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!” (Blake ll. 3) shows that he is still a very young child and the repetition of “ ‘weep!” emphasizes the fact that he is crying but no one is giving him any attention. The boy then goes on to tell a story about Tom Dacre. “There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,/ That curled like a lamb’s back…” (ll. 5-6). Again, the idea that Tom cried when he shaved his head shows that he is still a very young boy and doesn’t understand what is going on. In the quote, Tom is being compared to a lamb which basically symbolizes innocence, so the comparison basically states that the boy is, in fact, innocent.

            In the poem, there is a heavy contrast between black and white. “ Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your head’s bare,/ you know the soot cannot spoil your white hair” (ll. 7-8). The soot in this case is black and it is contrasted with his white hair. The soot resembles something dark, something that could potentially take his innocence away. “Black was the color of the industrial revolution”(wikipedia.com), but it is also a color that represents evil and death. White is the color that is being contrasted with black. Women wear white on their wedding nights, where white represents pureness. And in the poem, Tom’s white hair represents innocence. So the boy tells Tom that it is better for him to have no hair at all or else the soot would corrupt him. The color black is reoccurring throughout the poem. “That thousands of sweeper’s, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,/ Were all of them locked up in coffins of black” (Blake ll. 11-12). The coffins represent death, so the friends that were in these coffins might have been dead, but at the same time, the coffin could mean the beds that they sleep in. The beds could be covered in black soot, and that they sleep in very unpleasant conditions.

            While these children are living in very unpleasant conditions, they still have a glimpse of hope, after all they are just kids. One night Tom has a dream that all of the kids have been set free and they are all having fun and enjoying life. “Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,/ And wash in the river, and shine in the sun”(ll. 15-16) Tom’s dream world is his escape from reality. The angel goes on to tell the boy that if he behaves, he will have God as his father. Tom then believes that everything will be ok, when in reality chimney sweepers die early due to the harsh conditions that they work in. 

            While Songs of Innocence goes on to tell us about the innocence of a child. Songs of Experience goes on to tell about a child’s realization of the world around him. According to Blake, the definition of Experience is “a profound disillusionment with human nature and society” (Elements of Literature 719).

            The child in Songs of Experience has lost his trust in the people surrounding him. His parents have abandoned him, and they think that he is in a good place, when in reality it is far from good. “And because I am happy upon the heath,/ They think they have done me no injury…” (Songs of Experience ll. 9-10). Society views the place of these children as something that is ordinary. Society doesn’t care about their children, the people of the society have gone off to pray and do their own business while at the same time, putting their children in some of the harshest conditions to live in.

The people “are gone to praise God and his priest and king,/ who makes up a heaven of our misery” (ll. 11-12). It is both ironic and very hypocritical in that the parents and the people are praying, probably for the safe and happy world they are living in, but they have just basically thrown their child away in conditions that are unacceptable in the religious aspect.

Even though the child is acknowledging the idea that no one is there for him, he is in a state of mind that he is unable to escape the harsh reality that he is living in. And being a chimneysweeper does not help in achieving that goal. “And because I am happy and dance and sing,/ They think they have done me no injury…”(ll. 9-10). If the people continue to think that the kids are happy, they will not help them escape from what the kids are actually going through.

In Songs of Innocence the boy believes that there is going to be a happy ending. He is still going through the phase of innocence, when in the Songs of Experience reality hits the boy and he believes that there is no one there to help him and he cannot escape the harsh world he is living in.

Works Cited

Heath, Dianne. "Social Science Medley." Analysis of “The Chimney Sweeper” from the Songs of Experience ~. N.p., 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 May 2013.

"The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)." Shmoop. Shmoop, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.

"The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)." Shmoop. Shmoop, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.

"The Chimney Sweeper." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 May 2013.