William Blake (1757 – 1827) was a well-known writer in the romantic age. He was influences by the French revolution because of the ideas and ideals; that man was unique; and was a revolutionist his entire life. His two most famous works (that he wrote with Samuel Tylor Coleridge) is; ‘Songs of innocence’ where all the poems written from a child’s point of view, and ‘songs of experience’ that is written from an adults point of view. He was known for using a lot of symbols. He does also use a lot of colors, so we almost get a inner picture when we read his poems.
In both books he had wrote a poem called ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ both poems is about children who works as chimney sweepers. In both poems he criticize child labor, and how the children is decoyed to work, by telling them they are better persons, and that they will come to heaven if they work.
Songs of experience
‘The chimney sweeper’ from ‘Songs of experience is divided into tree stanzas, with four lines in each. The rhythm scheme in the 1st stanza is AABB, and in the last two stanzas it is ABAB.
In 1st stanza an adult finds a child sitting in the snow. He is crying “Weep weep”. You can interpret “weep weep” as “sweep sweep” – like he is looking for a job.
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