William Blake’s two “Chimney Sweeper” poems from
the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience,
heretofore referred to as the “first poem” and “second poem”, show a
progression in the awareness of a young chimney-sweeper, from an innocent child
clouded by childhood euphoria to a mature one whose awareness of his own life
reveals a stark contrast between the privileged and the downtrodden. The poem
revolves around four themes: childhood poverty, exploitation, stark social
inequality, and religion. This brief essay will discuss these three themes to
highlight the boy’s transition from childhood innocence to maturity.
The “first poem” highlights the life of Tom Dacre, a
chimney sweeper who is born to a world of abject poverty. Sold at a young age,
Tom has very little choices in terms of his life options. Deprived of parental
care and the joys of childhood, all Tom really have is his peers and the
thought of being warm during the cold. Tom obviously has dreams for a better
life, but his dreams are that of an innocent child, devoid of the social
structures that restrict his options. In the first poem, Tom dreams of being
free, clean, and of being able to enjoy nature, the sunshine, his childhood.
Tom is undoubtedly deprived of his happiness as a child. He is longing to have
a parental or a father figure in his life as depicted by the lines: “And the
Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, /He’d have God for his father &
never want joy.” The omniscient narrator then snaps back to the reality of
Tom’s living conditions, with Tom waking up to a dreadful reality — a reality which Tom seems to be oblivious to as shown by the line: “Though the
morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; /So if all do their duty, they need
not fear harm.”
