The poem “The Chimney Sweep” by William Blake is set around the dark backdrop of child labor. In the 18th and 19th centuries, boys aged four and five were sold because of their small size to work as chimney sweeps. In this poem, one of the characters named Tom Dacre has a dream in which an angel rescues 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're the ones telling the story. By doing this, the reader can imagine what it was like to be the young chimney sweep watching his colleague Tom. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay In the first two lines of the poem, readers get a glimpse of the events that will be described 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 unfolded differently. In the second and third lines of the poem, Blake writes: "And my father sold me when my tongue could barely cry 'cry!' cry! cry!" (Blake 2). The fact that the father sold the young 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 own opinion or even speak, meaning his father has already determined his destiny The boy was treated as property rather than a human being In the last line of the first stanza. , Blake writes: “So I sweep your chimneys and sleep in the soot” (Blake 4) Besides the title, this line is the first line where Blake explains to us why the boy was sold and what the rest of the poem will be about. .The fact that he includes that the boy will sleep in the soot really shows how bad the conditions are when one is a chimney sweep. In the second stanza, readers are introduced to a new character, named Tom Dacre is also a young man. boy, about the same age as the narrator, who also works as a chimney sweep. The reader is only given one physical characteristic of Tom that is described to him: “There was little Tom Dacre, who cried in his head, who was bent like a lamb's back, and who was shaved” (Blake 5 ). We can deduce that as a young chimney sweep boy, they have their heads shaved. Since all the boys have their heads shaved, it's almost like they're given a uniform and their identity is taken away. After this, the unnamed narrator offers Tom words of comfort saying that the soot from the chimney couldn't spoil 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 stanza, 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 felt anxiety as he fell asleep thinking about his life as a chimney sweep. The dream itself consisted of thousands of chimney sweeps locked in black coffins. Blake, however, decides to name four of the chimney sweeps, all with names of one syllable and a maximum of four letters. One of the reasons Blake may have done this is to continue to make thispersonal subject. Every time someone gives something a name, that object now takes on 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 even darker. Blake changes his tone in the next dream.double. “And there came an angel who had a bright key, and he opened the coffins and freed them all”; (Blake 13). There was a major contrast between this line and the previous one. Angels are usually seen dressed in white. This one, in particular, carried a glowing key that unlocked all the dark coffins. Blake added this adjective to mean that the children were now free from their slave labor. “Then across a green plain, jumping and laughing, they run, wash in a river and shine in the sun.” (Blake 15). Blake turns this nightmare into a dream in this stanza. Now Tom Dacre dreams of what kids his age should be doing instead of cleaning people's chimneys. Blake also adds that Tom dreams of how the boys will wash in the river. He includes this because it is as if Tom feels that once he is free from the sweep, he will be clean. Second, Blake includes boys glowing in the sun, which symbolizes brightness and warmth. We can deduce that working in a chimney would be the exact opposite of that. The fifth stanza is still the continuation of the dream. “Then naked and white, all their bags left behind, they rise to the clouds and frolic in the wind” (Blake 17). The fact that the boys are naked symbolizes freedom. This shows that they are free of all their tools and equipment needed for chimney sweeping. It was also crucial that the boys' skin be 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 his father and will never want joy. The angel tells Tom what he must do to be like the other boys in his dream. This is important now, Tom will follow all instructions given to him by the people who run the chimney sweeping company. The angel tells Tom that he will end up with God as his father. A reader may assume that Tom's father was probably the same as the narrator's. When Tom finally ascends to heaven with God, he will never want joy again because he will have everything he needs, unlike what he had when he was with his real parents. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayIn 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 once negative, and now it is positive. “And so Tom awoke; and we got up in the dark and got to work without bags or brushes. Although the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; thus, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm. (Blake 21). This poem is full of light and dark contrasts and this last stanza is no different. The first line tells how Tom rose from his sleep where an angel spoke to him, into the cold and darkness of the morning to set to work. It was crucial to include these adjectives because they reminded us of the reality of chimney sweeping. There was also a contrast in that he dreamed of naked children running around, and now he has to wake up and collect all his equipment to go to work. The kids were free, and now he has physical locks on him with all his equipment. Even though the morning was cold, Tom :.