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Maxwell Zhou Hanf Honors English 10 20 February 2012 Chimney Sweeper Final Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white- William
Blake. Blake sees his religion differently than others; he sees the truth behind, rather

than what

the priests tell him to believe. He writes to reveal the truth behind the Church. William Blake was an English poet that wrote mostly about religion during the Romantic Age. Romantics strive to be in a perfect world that is filled with nature and no conflicts. Many Romantics, like Blake wrote about religion because it was socially accepted during the time. Blake was a Christian who strongly believed in God. The only problem was that he did not believe in what the church was preaching to its people. William Blake is the author of a poem called The ChimneySweeper, which is about a boy who was sold to a chimney sweeping company. His name was Tom Dacre, he was forced to work hard and clean chimneys all day. Tom went to sleep one day and had a dream about all the other boys who worked with him; they had all died, and woke up in a better place. Blake wrote this poem to illustrate the manipulation done by the Church to the people, such as making them pay money to repent their sins. The holy imagery that William Blake uses in his poem suggests that the Church created a large influence on the people. Lamb. Lamb is used when describing the position that Tom

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Dacre is when he is going home. A Lamb symbolizes Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, and foreshadows the death of Tom Dacre because the Lamb is a sacrificial animal, like how Jesus was sacrificed for peoples sins. The reader then feels the obligation to obey God, since he controls fate. White hair. Tom Dacres head is shaved, so that the soot does not ruin his hair. White symbolizes his innocence, with it removed from him, he has created sin. Knowing that Tom Dacre lives a sad life, Blake attempts to show that the church is telling the people not to commit sin, or they will live an eternity of suffering. All their bags left behind. When Tom is dreaming, he and his friends are playing in a lush, plain filled with nature. The bags create the image of sin. According to the church, not doing sin will allow Christians to be live for eternity in a better place. However, the church knows people still commit sin, therefore making money off of them Blake uses godly imagery to portray the impact that the church had on the people during the Romantic Age. Blake uses syntax to represent that the Church is not reliable. And my father sold me while yet my tongue. Tom Dacres father sold him to the chimney sweeping company when he was young. In the Church, a Father is a priest, the gateway from God and the believer. By not capitalizing it, Blake shows the priests lack of importance to the community. That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack. While Tom is dreaming, he dreams of all the chimney sweepers and his friends that were all cleaning and working. By listing the people and showing the large amount of people, Blake attempts to show the large amount of people who are being tricked by the Church. The people represent the thousands of people who are deceived into following the religion. God. The term God is capitalized in the part where Tom goes to a better place. Capitalized pronoun shows that Blake is a religious man, though he does not agree

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with the church, he still believes in God. Blake represents his strong belief in God, but neglects the respect of the church in his poem. It portrays his conflict that he has with the church. With the use of syntax, William Blake suggests that the Church is deceiving. Blake uses different tones throughout his poem to show how the church is manipulating people. During the beginning of the poem, the tone is very depressing. My mother died when I was young. This is the introduction to the character Tom Dacre, on his life story. This whole verse deals with his sad life, setting up for the expectations of Toms future for the reader. The verse is a description of Hell, a sad, lonely place where a person must constantly work until death. The rhyme in the second verse makes it very childlike. Using this tone of voice, it shows how easily a child can relate to the church. This represents the church telling children about religion, so that they can manipulate them into their beliefs and ways of society. The church must be relatable so that people can relate back, therefore believing in whatever they preach. The church is only trying to expand and get more members; it makes Christianity more popular, and gives the church more money. Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark. Tom wakes up from his dream and then he gets back to work. The tone in here shows hopelessness and that the church is their only hope to be happy even though it is a never ending cycle. Blakes tone in the poem allows the reader to realize how the church is altering the idea of religion to seem like a necessity. William Blake was a devout Christian, believed in God and followed his religion until his death. However, he did not believe in what the Church was representing. Blake used his poem The Chimney-Sweeper to show how the Church is deceiving and manipulative. He illustrated

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his thoughts of the church using his poem. The godly imagery, tone, and rhyme portray the manipulation of the church. During the Romantic Age, the Church was a place where people were misled and deceived.

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Works Cited
Tafarella, Santi. "William Blake on the Many Faces of Jesus." Wordpress. 9 July 2008. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://santitafarella.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/the-vision-of-christ-that-thou-dost-see-williamblake-on-the-many-faces-of-jesus/>.