William Blakes Chimney Sweeper Essay - 1976 Words

William Blakes Chimney Sweeper In this essay I am going to explore Blakes Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. During this essay I will cover Blakes life and times and the way chimney sweepers get treated around that time and what Blake attempts to do about it. Blake was born on November 28 in the year 1757. His parents where strict but understanding. Blakes parents realized early in his life that Blake was gifted. He had an extremely active imagination and he often got visions. At only four years old he claimed he had seen God in one of these visions. Another time when he was with one of his friends he envisaged angels filling a tree. He horridly†¦show more content†¦The age of the infants varied between five years old to the age of eight or nine if they could be fit up the chimneys. They where often bought off parents for as little a  £2, in some cases however they may be purchased for  £5 but it is still a despicable price to pay for a young child. In the extreme cases the chimney sweepers where stole from familys. When the sweeps had lost the use around the age of seven they get passed over to the church. Blake despised the serious health problems the sweeps got from this demanding life of threatening work. Most sweeps after only a short time of working in the chimneys end up with twisted kneecaps, ankles and even spines from crawling up the extremely cramped chimneys. There was even such a thing as chimney sweeps cancer which they got from the soot irritating there skin. Again we can see why Blake hates the idea of chimney sweepers and there treatment, they are forced to do inhumane things that even animals would never be told to do. The master sweeps imbedded fear into the young brains and subjected them to clean chimneys. They where made to live in the most inhabitable of conditions. They often slept on soot bags in dirty wet cellars. The sweeps where forced to clean the chimneys if they refused or could not fit up the chimneys they where punished by the fire being lit, slaps,Show MoreRelatedAn Analysis of William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper1225 Words   |  5 PagesThesis Statement: This paper will analyze Blakes Chimney Sweeper and show how it presents an image of both experience and innocence, holding the latter up as a kind of light in the dark world of the child chimney sweepers. 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