Social Issue, Symbols, and Themes of Blake’s “the Chimney Sweeper” Poems
Manivone Sayasone
Professor Nicoll-Johnson
English 6B 1922
15 March 2013
Social Issue, Symbols, and Themes of Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” Poems
During the seventeenth century, people in England substituted burning wood with coal to use their fireplaces to avoiding paying hearth taxes. The burning of coal left soot on the interior walls of the fireplaces that needed to be removed to keep the fireplaces clean. Homes would be polluted with fumes of the coal residue if the fireplaces weren’t cleaned regularly (“A History of Chimney Sweeping”). Since children were small enough to climb inside the narrow interior of the chimneys, they were employed as chimney sweeps that worked in harsh conditions (Nurmi 17). As a result, the lives of young chimney sweeps in London during the eighteenth century stirred William Blake to write two poems that reveal his outlook towards their work experience. “The Chimney Sweeper” poems from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience contained themes and symbols regarding a severe social issue.
The lack of labor laws in England enabled employers such as master sweeps to have their child apprentices work at the age of six or seven. Some apprentices became sweeps at ages four and five (Nurmi 16). Martin K. Nurmi explained, “Unlike the usual apprenticeship, in which the fee is paid to the master, binding children—both boys and girls—to a master sweep usually brought a payment ranging from twenty shillings to five guineas from the master to the parent, if there was one, or to whoever had the child at the time” (16). Orphans, especially, were compelled to work as sweeps. Since the sixteenth century, the sweeps worked extensively for hours yet were still given poor treatment. In “exchange for a home and food and water,” they worked as “indentured servants to their master” (“A History of Chimney Sweeping”). For seven years, the children were apprenticed as sweeps despite the fact they became too big to climb chimneys by their seventh
Professor Nicoll-Johnson
English 6B 1922
15 March 2013
Social Issue, Symbols, and Themes of Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” Poems
During the seventeenth century, people in England substituted burning wood with coal to use their fireplaces to avoiding paying hearth taxes. The burning of coal left soot on the interior walls of the fireplaces that needed to be removed to keep the fireplaces clean. Homes would be polluted with fumes of the coal residue if the fireplaces weren’t cleaned regularly (“A History of Chimney Sweeping”). Since children were small enough to climb inside the narrow interior of the chimneys, they were employed as chimney sweeps that worked in harsh conditions (Nurmi 17). As a result, the lives of young chimney sweeps in London during the eighteenth century stirred William Blake to write two poems that reveal his outlook towards their work experience. “The Chimney Sweeper” poems from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience contained themes and symbols regarding a severe social issue.
The lack of labor laws in England enabled employers such as master sweeps to have their child apprentices work at the age of six or seven. Some apprentices became sweeps at ages four and five (Nurmi 16). Martin K. Nurmi explained, “Unlike the usual apprenticeship, in which the fee is paid to the master, binding children—both boys and girls—to a master sweep usually brought a payment ranging from twenty shillings to five guineas from the master to the parent, if there was one, or to whoever had the child at the time” (16). Orphans, especially, were compelled to work as sweeps. Since the sixteenth century, the sweeps worked extensively for hours yet were still given poor treatment. In “exchange for a home and food and water,” they worked as “indentured servants to their master” (“A History of Chimney Sweeping”). For seven years, the children were apprenticed as sweeps despite the fact they became too big to climb chimneys by their seventh
Cited: “A History of Chimney Sweeping.” www.ctsweep.com. Nayaug Chimney Services, LLC. 2010. Web. 12 March. 2013. Blake, William. “William Blake’s ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ from Songs of Innocence and from Songs of Experience.” Dr. Nancy Rosenberg England. 2013. Web. 13 March. 2013. Carbatonic Funk. “William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper in the Songs of Innocence and Experience.” Yahoo! Voices. Yahoo! Inc., 6 Sep. 2007. Web. 13 March. 2013. Heath, Dianne. “Analysis of ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ by William Blake.” Social Science Medley. 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 March. 2013. Heath, Dianne. “Analysis of ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ from the Songs of Experience.” Social Science Medley. 19 Sep. 2011. Web. 12 March. 2013. Nurmi, Martin K. “Fact and Symbol in ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ of Blake’s Songs of Innocence.” Blake: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed Northrop Frye. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, 1966. 15-22. Reiser, K.L. “An Analysis of Blake’s ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ Poems.” Yahoo! Voices. Yahoo! Inc., 27 April. 2007. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.