The Chimney-Sweeper (Experience): Key Quotes

In the style of a revision textbook, write a group of bullet points about “The Chimney-Sweeper (Experience): Poet & Context”.

Poet & Context

William Blake was not recognised during his lifetime, but he is now considered to be a seminal figure in visual art and poetry of the Romantic Age.
Blake was known for his strong views against oppressive institutions, particularly the Church. His works often critique the rigidity of Church doctrine and contrast it with a more spiritual, personal relationship with God.
“The Chimney-Sweeper” reflects these views, providing a damning critique of 18th-century society and its exploitation and oppression of children.
The poem uses a child’s voice to critique social injustice, a typical Blakean technique.
Blake’s London was a city undergoing industrial transformation, with a burgeoning working class. This directly influences the conditions represented in the poem.

“The Chimney-Sweeper” (Experience) is a poem from Blake’s ‘Songs of Experience’, parallel to a poem of the same name in ‘Songs of Innocence’.
The use of the two chimneys sweepers poems illustrate Blake’s concept of contraries. This underpins much of ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’.
The ‘Innocence’ poem is a lament for the hardships of a young chimney sweeper, whilst ‘Experience’ takes a more cynical view of these conditions being allowed by society and the Church.

The poem reflects the harsh realities of a society in the throes of the Industrial Revolution.
One of the key features of the Industrial Revolution was child labour, which Blake condemns in ‘The Chimney-Sweeper’.
The plight of the child chimney sweepers was a contentious issue at the time. In many ways, Blake’s work can be seen as a social commentary, challenging the status quo and providing a voice for the marginalised in society.

Blake often used biblical language and allusions to criticise the Church. In this poem, he critiques not only society but also the Church for its complacency in the face of social injustice.
The poem also employs possibly ironic religious consolation, suggesting heaven as the reward for earthly suffering, thus challenging the teaching of the Church.
Blake’s vision of Christianity was not of sin, forgiveness and redemption, but was instead focused on love, forgiveness and inclusion. This was in contrast to the Church at that time, which Blake saw as corrupted and repressive.