1. William Blake
the chimney sweeper

2. Bio
William Blake was born on November 28, 1757 in London, the third of five children. His father James was a hosier, and could only afford to give William enough schooling to learn the basics of reading and writing,
Blake married Catherine Boucher at age 25, and she worked with him on most of his artistic creations. Together they published a book of Blake's poems and drawings called Songs of Innocence.
William Blake died on August 12, 1827, and is buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields, London.

3. The Chimney Sweeper
When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue, Could scarcely cry weep weep weep weep, So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep. Theres little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curled like a lambs back was shav'd, so I said. Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair

4. Poem
And so he was quiet. & that very night. As Tom was a sleeping he had such a sight That thousands of sweepers Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black, And by came an Angel who had a bright key And he open'd the coffins & set them all free. Then down a green plain leaping laughing they run And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

5. Poem
Then naked & white, all their bags left behind. They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. And so Tom awoke and we rose in the dark And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm

6. Paraphrase
I was young when my mother died before I could cry my father sold me to a chimney sweeper. Tom was dreaming about thousands of sweepers Dick, Ned, Joe, and jack were locked up in a chimney. Then comes an angle and sets them free where they go to a river and swim naked. The angle tells Tom if he behaves he’d have God for a dad and would never need joy. The next morning they all got up and went to work happy with no sign of fear.

7. Analysis They rise upon clouds-the angles are going to heaven.
Diction: Then naked & white- describes the people becoming almost like angles.
They rise upon clouds-the angles are going to heaven.

8. Analysis
Tone & Mood: Very dark and vivid

9. Analysis
Rhetorical Situation: the little by is talking to audience; to realize the unhealthy working

10. Analysis
Figurative Language: simile: his head That curled like a lambs back was shav'd
Metaphor:

11. Analysis
Imagery: The mistreatment and awful working conditions of children

12. Analysis
Sound: “weep, weep, weep, weep” “laughing”

13. This poem is very sad. At the beginning he lost his brother and his dad sold him to a chimney sweeper. Tom never gave up on life though. I couldn’t imagine having to go through what tom had to.