William Blake

A detailed Summary of William Blake

William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper", part of his Songs of Innocence, is about a young boy who was sold as a baby into the life of a chimney sweep. The boy has a dream about the child chimneysweepers' dreadful lives coming to an end, and finally being set free into God's arms.

The author of "The Chimney Sweeper," was also an English poet, artist, engraver, mythmaker and visionary. He was the earliest and most independent of the Romantics. Blake was born on November 28, 1757 in London, where he spent most of his life. "He taught himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Italian, and his English was often remarkably original" ("Blake, William"). Blake started writing when he was 12 and friends printed a few of his early poems in 1783. Blake's Songs of Innocence, wrote in 1789, expressed a happy image about the childhood of the soul in an everlasting world sustained by love. Later he wrote the Songs of Experience in 1794, which contained poems that challenged the assumed beneficence of God and society. After his death on August 12, 1827, Blake's works were dispersed and some may have been destroyed.

In this poem, it seems as though Blake, who uses the first person voice, is trying to make a clear connection between the exploitation

while Experience shows its side with lines such as

"They clothed me in the clothes of death,

They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;"

"And by came an Angel who had a bright key,

And wash in a river, and shine in the sun." (13-16)

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1067
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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William Blake

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