Free Essays on The Chimney Sweeper

as well can represent the demands that are put upon him. Before the word weep there is a single quotation in front of each W, which could represent the letter S. This would then turn the word weep into sweep and since the word is repeated it could represent the demands and pressures that are put upon this you... Free Essays on The Chimney Sweeper Free Essays on The Chimney Sweeper William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper is a striking representation of life in England in the late 1700s. The main theme of this poem is lost childhood innocence. This poem deals with the abusive treatment of children when they were sold by their parents to work in dangerous conditions as chimney sweepers . This poem reflects the author’s views on England’s lack of compassion, all while displaying a tone of religious relief to children put into these awful circumstances. Blake uses many literary elements including the explanation of thematic issues, visual and rhythmic structure, sound devices, and figures of speech to help the reader develop a clear understanding of The Chimney Sweeper. The Chimney Sweeper is a narrative poem that tells the story of young Tom Dacre. There is no defined setting to this poem. The speaker is a coworker of Tom’s who takes care of him, and is also young enough to be in the same position as him . The story explains that Tom’s mother died and his father sold him to become a chimney sweeper at a very young age. The speaker narrates to the reader Tom’s story while being a friend to Tom, comforting him when he is down. The poem mainly focuses on one night where Tom has a dream. In his dream, Tom sees an Angel who gives joyous freedom to all of the chimney sweepers. Then the Angel explains to Tom that he should do his job and he will always have God as his father; he will always have Heaven to look forward to. His interactions with God and the Angel sadly help Tom realize that he may never experience true joy, he must just anticipate it until his afterlife. The main visual structure of The Chimney Sweeper is the strophic arrangement of the poem. The stanzas are arranged in six sections each containing a quatrain. Line break patterns exist throughout the poem for grammatical help and visual use. The first four stanzas do not include an end stop until the final lines, each line just cont... Free Essays on The Chimney Sweeper William Blake’s, The Chimney Sweeper, focuses on the thoughts and feelings of a young orphan having to deal with the pressures of losing their parents and being forced to take part in child labor in order to live. The poet uses images and metaphors in order to show the child’s views on how and why his life has changed. Different structures and meanings are the result of these images and metaphors. The poet stresses on how young the child is, through the structure of the poem in order to suggest how wrong the pressures of child labor are. The structure of this poem helps the reader understand where the poem is coming from, the eye’s of a child. This structure is shown through the way in which the poem is written. The poem is written in very simple wordings and as well in simple stanzas. This structure helps the reader see that the poem is about a young child who speaks in a very simple language. The simple words and terms used through out the poem stress the child’s intellectual capability, which focuses our attention on the fact that this is just a child having to deal with so much pressure and pain. The poem is written using two rhyming couplets in the first stanza and then in the remaining stanzas there are alternating rhyming lines. As well this poem is written in iambic pentameter, except in the second line when it says â€Å"Crying â€Å"’weep, ’weep.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2). The words ’weep, ’weep are to be stressed because these two words are a very strong point within this poem. The words not only represent the weeps that this young child cries from the pain and hurt that is being caused to him, but the words as well can represent the demands that are put upon him. Before the word weep there is a single quotation in front of each W, which could represent the letter S. This would then turn the word weep into sweep and since the word is repeated it could represent the demands and pressures that are put upon this you...