Blake's The Chimney Sweeper
William Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper,” written in 1789, tells the story of what happened to many young boys during this time period. Often, boys as young as four and five were sold for the soul purpose of cleaning chimneys because of their small size. These children were exploited and lived a meager existence that was socially acceptable at the time. Blake voices the evils of this acceptance through point of view, symbolism, and his startling irony. Blake expresses his poem in first person, as a young chimney sweeper. This gives his poetic voice creditability because the subject of the poem is chimney sweepers. In addition, using first person creates a deeper sense of sympathy in the reader. This young boy, the poetic voice, lost his mother while “[he] was very young” (554). Soon after the loss of his mother “[his] father sold [him] while yet [his] tongue/ Could scarcely cry ‘ ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!’” (554). This sympathy allows the reader to realize n
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Ned Jack/, Chimney Sweeper, weep weep, weep weep weep, terrible life, weep 554, symbolizes boys, startling irony, poetic voice, father sold tongue/, sold tongue/ scarcely, cry weep weep, tongue/ scarcely cry, father sold, chimney sweepers, sympathy reader, irony blake,
Approximate Word count = 650
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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