The poem “The Chimney Sweep” by William Blake is set around a dark backdrop of child labor. In the 18th and 19th centuries, four- and five-year-old boys were sold because of their small physical size to work as chimney sweeps. In this poem, one of the characters named Tom Dacre has a dream in which an angel saves the boys from the coffins and takes them with him to heaven. The story is told by one of the young chimney sweeps whose name remains unknown. To help his readers understand this poem and to add even more dramatic effect, Blake writes the poem in the first person. The reason behind first-person narration is actually simple. Blake wants to help his readers feel like they are the ones telling the story. In this way, the reader can imagine what it was like to be the young chimney sweep looking up to his colleague Tom. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the first two lines of the poem, readers get a background of the events that will be depicted in the poem. The narrator's mother had died when he was very young. Stereotypically, in society, the mother has always been the more caring of the two parents. If the narrator had had a mother, the story might have turned out differently. In the second and third lines of the poem, Blake writes, “And my father sold me while yet my tongue could scarce cry 'cry! cried! cried!" (Blake 2). The fact that the father had sold the boy tells us that the boy comes from a poor family. Otherwise the father would have no reason to sell the boy. Furthermore, the boy is not old enough to express his opinion or even speak, which means that his father has already determined his fate. The boy has been treated like property rather than a human being. In the last line of the first stanza, Blake writes: “So trash your chimneys and I sleep in the soot." (Blake 4) Aside from the title, this line is the first in which Blake tells us why the boy had been sold and what the rest of the poem will be about. The fact that he includes that the boy will sleep in the soot, it really shows how bad the conditions are when you are a chimney sweep. In the second stanza, readers are introduced to a new character, called Tom Dacre, who is a young boy, about the same age as the narrator, who works also as a chimney sweep. Only one physical characteristic of Tom is described to the reader: “There's little Tom Dacre, who cried in his head, who was curled like a lamb's back, he was shaved” (Blake 5). From this we deduce that as a young chimney sweeper he had his head shaved. Since all the boys shave their heads, it's almost like giving them a uniform and taking away their identity. After that, the unnamed narrator offers Tom words of reassurance that the chimney soot couldn't ruin what wasn't there. This was important because from this point in the poem, everything that had happened had a dark and depressing tone. In the next verse, Tom Dacre has a nightmare. At first Tom was sleeping peacefully in his bed, when suddenly he has a nightmare. The fact that Tom was quiet at first means that what the narrator said may have helped calm him down. The reader might also assume that Tom may have had bedtime anxiety thinking about his life as a chimney sweep. The dream itself consisted of thousands of chimney sweeps locked in black coffins. Blake decides, however, to name four chimney sweeps, all with names that are one syllable and have a maximum of four letters. One reason Blake may have done this is to continue making thispersonal topic. Every time someone gives a name to something, that object now has a greater meaning to that person. In other words, now that there are four named children in Tom's dream, Blake is able to make the dream seem even darker. Blake changes tone in the next dream.line. “And there came an angel having a bright key, and opened the coffins, and delivered them all;” (Blake 13). There was a great contrast in this line compared to the last. Angels are usually seen dressed all in white. This one, in particular, carried a luminous key, which opened all the dark coffins. Blake added this adjective to say that the children were now free from their slave labor. “Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, wash themselves in a river and shine in the sun.” (Blake 15). Blake turns this nightmare into a dream in this verse. Now Tom Dacre dreams of what kids his age should do instead of cleaning people's fireplaces. Blake also includes that Tom dreams about how the boys will wash in the river. He includes it because it is as if Tom feels that once he is free from sweeping, he will be clean. Secondly, Blake includes the boys shining in the sun, which symbolizes brightness and warmth. It can be deduced that working in a fireplace would be exactly the opposite. The fifth stanza is still the continuation of the dream. “Then naked and white, abandoning all their bags, they rise up in the clouds and frolic in the wind” (Blake 17). The fact that the boys are naked symbolizes freedom. Show that they are free with all the tools and equipment needed to sweep the chimney. It was also crucial that the boys' skin tone was white. White is the color of purity and is the opposite of the color of soot inside chimneys. In the last part of the dream, the angel tells Tom that if he is a good boy, he will end up having God as a father and will never miss him. joy. The angel is telling Tom what he needs to do to be like the other boys in his dream. This is important now that Tom will follow all the directions given to him by the people who run the chimney sweeping business. The angel tells Tom that he will end up with God as his father. A reader can assume that Tom's father was probably the same as the narrator's. When Tom eventually goes to heaven with God, he will never want joy because he will have everything he needs, unlike when he was with his real parents. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay In the sixth and final stanza of the poem, the dream ends and readers can see a change in Tom Dacre's outlook on life, where he was negative and is now positive. “And so Tom awoke; and we got up in the dark, and set to work without bags and without brushes. Although the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; so if everyone does their duty they don't have to fear any damage. (Blake 21). This poem is full of light and dark contrasts and this last stanza is no different. The first line tells of how Tom rose from sleep in which an angel spoke to him, in the cold, dark morning to get to work. It was essential to include those adjectives because they brought back the reality of the chimney sweep. There was also a contrast in the sense that he dreamed of naked children running around, and now he has to wake up and get all his gear to go to work. The kids were free and now he has physical locks on him with all his gear. Even though the morning was cold, Tom seemed to be happy and warm. The reader can infer that this is because of what the angel had said to Tom. He is doing all his duties, so he need not fear harm. Works Cited Blake, W. (1789). Songs of Innocence and Experience: The Chimney Sweeper.Bentley, G. E. (1979). Blake:.