The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

Full Text

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!'
So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind;
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

Overview

Blake contrasts child labor’s brutality with a dream of angelic rescue, exposing how hope is used to soften injustice.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-8

The speaker reveals his sale into labor and consoles a friend after a humiliating haircut.

Lines 9-16

Tom dreams of countless sweepers trapped in black coffins who are freed by an angel.

Lines 17-24

The dream promises reward for obedience, and the boys return to work in the cold.

Themes

• Child labor
• Innocence and exploitation
• Religion
• Hope as consolation

Literary Devices

Imagery

coffins of black — Turns soot-covered children into funereal images.

Irony

happy and warm — Happiness is shown as a fragile coping mechanism.

Historical Context

Blake wrote against child labor practices in industrial London, especially chimney sweeping.