(From “Songs of Experience”) The Chimney-Sweeper

A little black thing among the snow,

Crying! 'weep! weep! in notes of woe!

'Where are thy father and mother? Say!' –

'They are both gone up to the church to pray.

'Because I was happy upon the heath,

And smiled among the winter's snow,

They clothed me in the clothes of death,

And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

'And because I am happy and dance and sing,

They think they have done me no injury,

And are gone to praise God and His priest and king,

Who made up a heaven of our misery.'

1. Where are the chimney sweeper's parents?

2. Why do his parents think that they have not hurt him?

3. Who is responsible for the chimney sweeper's situation?

4. In the poem The Chimney Sweeper from the Songs of Innocence there are two lines which seem to originate from the mouths of adults. Has Blake identified these adults in this poem?

5. In the The Chimney Sweeper from the Songs of Innocence we are given an explanation of how it is possible for the chimney sweepers to be happy. How do the chimney sweeper's parents interpret this happiness?

Songs of Innocence Nurse's Song

When voices of children are heard on the green,

And laughing is heard on the hill,

My heart is at rest within my breast,

And everything else is still.

'Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,

And the dews of night arise;

Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,

Till the morning appears in the skies.'

'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,

And we cannot go to sleep;

Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,

And the hills are all covered with sheep.'

'Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,

And then go home to bed.'

The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,

And all the hills echoed.

1. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

2. There are many examples of repetition and internal rhyme within the poem. Find examples and explain their purpose.

3. What do you notice about: • the number of syllables................................

• the number of stresses........... • the relationship between the two? ...........

4. Who describes and narrates what takes place in the poem?

5. What do the children want to do? How do they justify their wishes?

6. What does the narrator of the poem want them to do? How does the narrator react to their protests?

7. What do you think Blake is suggesting in this poem?

Songs of Experience Nurse's Song

When the voices of children are heard on the green,

And whisperings are in the dale,

The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,

My face turns green and pale.

Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,

And the dews of night arise;

Your spring and your day are wasted in play,

And your winter and night in disguise.

1. Are there any significant differences between the rhythm, rhyme scheme and stanza form of this and the first poem?

2. What effect does the use of monosyllables create in the last line of the first stanza?

3. Is the narrator the same as in the first poem? Are there any differences in the way the scene is described?

4. Despite many similarities between the two poems there are also some important differences. Find examples and describe in your own words the difference in atmosphere between the two poems.

5. Why do you think the children have no voice in this poem?

6. Explain the reaction of the narrator in the last line of the first stanza.

7. What is the meaning of the last two lines? How does it contrast with what occurs in the first poem? What do you think Blake is suggesting?