English 1109 Karis Katekovit 1109

Blake tells the inequality

Introduction

William Blake (1757 1827) was born on 28th of November, in the district of Soho, London,

England. It is where he spent the most of his life, and also a place that influences his poems. He was

mostly homeschooled by his mother, and later on the Bible had an intense influence on him as a lifetime

basis of inspiration. He learnt to write at an early age, and claimed that he saw a tree filled with angels

at the age of ten, which led to a lasting effect on his art paintings and the product of his poems (William

Blake, 2016). Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution had started before Blake was born and continued until

a few decades after his death. The Industrial Revolution was the transformation of a new manufacturing

process, which includes machines in factories and labors. Many artists, poets, etc., opposed the

development of machines, and chose to focus instead on the importance of nature and the importance of

the society, such as, equality, carings, social awareness, and many more, which Blake was definitely one

of them. Even though, the industrial revolution made the country economic wealthy, but Blake didnt like

it at all because it caused discrimination. William Blake depicts the inequality of society by using

depressing imagery associated with the industrial revolution.

Body 1: London

In 1794 (Blake was 37 years), he wrote a poem called London, which was published in The

Songs of Experience. However, this poem does not have a corresponding poem in The Songs of

Innocence. This poem is mainly about the conditions of people in London during the revolutionary period.

Blake saw that the industrial revolution had a negative transformation of the world, and he did not like it.

The rapid industrialization had made middle class workers able to access more comfortable lifestyle.

However, it has also caused to a massive urbanization, which led to an overcrowded population in the

slums that has caused a widespread of disease. Blake saw that those people do not have sanitary facilities,
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meaning that the streets were filled with garbage. It is basically what the poem is conveying to the reader.

From the first stanza of the poem, it says

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

He is saying that everywhere he goes, he sees a woe or sorrow in everyones faces (Shmoop Editorial

Team (2), 2008). Blake shows how bad people are feeling with imagery and a very gloomy scene. On the

eighth line (stanza 2) of the poem where the word manacles appears, this can mean that the people have a

fixed mind with something, possibly about politics because it is in the late eighteenth century. On the line

9 where it says, How the Chimney-sweeper's cry, it means that little boys who clean chimneys are

crying. If we think carefully, a boy shouldnt be cleaning a chimney, and it could also be interpreted as

slavery, which Blake fully opposes this idea because this is literally child labor. All of the above shows

how bad, or miserable the situation in London was at the period of time. It doesnt sound like a nice place

to visit. In addition, this also shows that Blake hates slavery.

Body 2: Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)

This poem was published in 1789; it was also during the Industrial Revolution and French

Revolution. The Chimney Sweeper is a poem about child labor and tells how they were treated and how

their life was. Blake used a child and a friend of his to tell the story of this poem, which is a form of

persona in the literary device. This is to emphasize the poem a bit more and gives imagery to the reader as

well. In the first few lines of the poem, the child in the poem says that his mother died since he was

young, and his father sold him before he could even cry, possibly to a chimney cleaning business. The

boy also said that he works and sleeps in the soot a black powdery substance that is produced from an
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incomplete combustion. This depicts an image of radical child labor, and orphans. The children were

cleaning the inside of the chimney, which is very dirty. This reflects how bad the society is. In stanza 3,

says that there are many children around England treated and working like this. We can know this by the

names that are on the poem in line 11, such as, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack.

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 locked up in coffins of black;

It can be seen clearly because these listed names are mostly standard or commonly used names, meaning

that Blake is trying to emphasize it. Also, in the last two lines where it says,

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;

So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

shows us that Blake is being ironic, because a child working in the chimney cant happy (Shmoop

Editorial Team (3), 2008). Blake is actually referring to the church and government where it says, if you

do you work nicely, then you wont be threatened. They actually arent.We can conclude that this poem

directly shows how bad the children were treated and also these kids are suffering twofold, mentally and

physically.

Body 3: Chimney Sweepers (Songs of Experience)

This poem was published along with The Songs of Experience. Poems that are in the Songs of

Innocence should contradict with the ones on the Experience one. This includes this poem, Chimney
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Sweepers. The names are written identically because it is to let the readers know that it is contradicting to

the poem that is in the Innocence one. This poem tells us how harsh the life of a child was to be in the

revolutionary period. In the first stanza, Blake described a chimney sweeper as a little black thing.

A little black thing among the snow,

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

It shows how the society looks down on these child laborers. This is sad because they dont even get be

called a person or so treated like one. The child hates being treated this way. In the 2nd stanza, it seems

like that the child is telling a whole story of how he ended up like this.

Because I was happy upon the heath,

And smil'd among the winter's snow,

They clothed me in the clothes of death,

And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

He tells us that because he used to be happy and like to play outside, but his parents made him wear the

clothes of death, and taught him to sing the notes of woe. There are metaphors shown in the poem. First,

the clothes of death might relate to the Chimney Sweepers uniform. Secondly, the notes of woe can mean

crying because of the job he was forced to do. In the last stanza, the boy is showing that God, the church,

and the government are responsible for his sufferings as said in the poem,

And because I am happy and dance and sing,

They think they have done me no injury,

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And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King,

Who make up a heaven of our misery."

The boy in the poem says that his parents did him no harm by just making him sweep a chimney.

However, the boy is in a very miserable work and it seems like his parents didnt noticed his notes of woe

because they are busy going to the church (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008). And if we annotate carefully,

the kid (Blake) is really saying that the church, and the government is living their heaven out of the

sufferings of the young sweepers. Blake shows his societys view through this child (or children), blaming

the social institution for treating kids as slaves, which isnt like how Blake would want it to be

Conclusion

In the final analysis, Blake stands a position that is differing to the industrial revolution. It can be

seen throughout his collections of poems. Because of the rapid revolution, Blake points out that there are

an increase in class powers, child labors, prostitutions, diseases, and many others as said in the paragraph

above. Due to the Industrial Revolution, Blake shows the inequality of the society with a gloomy sense in

the poem from such situations in the late 1800s.