Lecture notes
The Chimney Sweeper by blake annotations
- Institution
- AQA
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verb = Child iscomodified-dehwmanis.es child
not
illegal in era C. context)
THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER - INNOCENCE
v. reflects social deprivation
When my mother died I was very young, only life now
life expectancy
-
he has
'
known = orphan +
chimney sweeper
And my father sold me while yet my tongue suggests he has done this
Could scarcely cry, 'weep weep weep weep’. an epidermis emphasis
since
youth
: childhood stolen .
his misery ironically
So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep. Chimney
-
echos the cry of the
Pronoun t
direct address =
sweeper implying normal childhood responses have
Present tense been
immediacy replaced by
1-1?
reader at
=
innocence
corrupt industry .
rdimunatire adjective = vulnerability +
in
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
is complicit
the Childs sibilance : bitterness that
Objectification
undermines resignation .
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said: -
'
soot
'
= literal and metaphorical
"Hush, Tom, never mind it, for when your head's bare,
hellish existence
for
simile innocence
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." of shaving
.
,
+ne act
implies that innocence ; stolen
dehumanises
-
the child removing individuality
=
↳
.
.
sacrigiea victim : Allusion to
juxtaposition of colours to book
judges ;
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
of samisen + delilah
convey the corruption of
removing hair loss of
-
=
innocence .
'
white '= strength
and vitality
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight:
.
innocence heavenly , .
premature aging .
sibilance enhances the transition
hyperbole = Ad
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack, from reality to dream : hypnotic effect
↓
extent of
Problem Were all of them locked up in coffins of black,
↳ literal
list of typical monosyllabic names implies he is
verb =
confinement t
one
Of many
metaphorical
1
ananoymvs children -
deaths will be
unnoticed
And by came an angel who had a bright key,
.
times
Childs innocent tmage M
the
chimneys with death .
And he opened the coffins and set them all free.
TOM 'S dream is a vision of death that his
perspective pig
unconscious mind develop es to match the
religion horror
-
offers salvtion
from his reality
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run, Of his
reality .
benevolent
✓
wild be
divine
holding twin back
figure
= naive
And wash in a river and shine in the sun. symbolic of hope
t liberation
I
.
1- baptised quality ☆ return to innocence M natural pastoral imagery scene
-
.
juxtaposes
innocence t
vulnerability -
his urban
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
world
ironic as children
.
were
often gyp '
sent
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
up
symbolic of " leaving there burdens behind
Chimneys
↳ liberty
.
nonet .
ethos the
And the Angel told Tom if he'd be a good boy, + connection to nature .
children
'
in
'
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
Innocence =
to better
ascending a
abrupt end to the dream + return to return to
place reality : oppressive conditions
And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
.
.
plosive and
guttural
bitterness
sounds '
speakers
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
.
in contrast to
dream -
burnand .
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; forebodes closeness
of death .
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm. I
ironic
conditional demonstrates
- tom has been
comforted by dream
the
way church
BUT only Tom is
is happy not the speaker increased
doctrine control
-
used to children .
alienation
either
angle is a benevolent
force offering me child reassurance &
hope .
or its Blake criti the
sing church
indoctrinating children unno were
taught obedience + thus manipulated into doing the
bidding of
exploited .
their
masters +
'
god for his '
fathers =
ironic +
tragic as sweeps were
often orphans so the Church
plays cruelly on what they most ones ire .
ironic their terrible
given conditions
sardonic tone -
mocks the
shockingly naive Tom .
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