William Blakes The Chimney Sweep and Songs of Innocence and Experience

William Blake's The Chimney Sweep and Songs of Innocence and Experience In this essay I will attempt to analyse, compare and contrast the poems 'The Chimney Sweep' from both 'Songs of Experience' and 'Songs of Innocence' which were both written by 'William Blake' in 1790-92 and 1789 respectively. These two poems were amalgamated in 1794 to create a new collection called 'Songs of Innocence and Experience'. I will be looking at what Blake says and hints at concerning the 'two contrary states of the human soul' in the two poems as well as looking at the message Blake is trying to convey to the reader. As the poems are written regarding the same subject, that is a chimney sweep, I will be looking at how they differ in their representations of chimney sweeps as well as looking at whether Blake's attitude towards them and how they are treated varies or remains constant. I will also look at the many issues the poems raise and I will go beyond the obvious one of child labour and the implications this had on society at the time. Moving away from the issues that are raised by the two poems I will also look at the literacy techniques Blake uses in both poems and how they vary from poem to poem. Blake uses a considerable amount of imagery in both poems and I will comment upon how he uses it to effect. In the late 18th century, the world was changing fast and developing rapidly. The British Empire was at its all time peak in terms of size and domination; Britain was also leading the Industrial Revolution and consequently because of this and its huge empire exports and in particular imports to Britain of precious minerals and materials from their many colonies, was very high, which had the effect of allowing t... ...ect on them at an early age. Or if the belief is held that the child is a miniature adult and so should be treated as such with out any special considerations. Heaven was seen as a reward for suffering hell on earth and this belief was perhaps used and encouraged to exploit the naÃÆ'Â ¯ve working classes, who out of fear of retribution would not question this idea as religion was a means of controlling the masses. Blake uses a range of techniques, such as imagery, to convey and express these states, I found his description of the boy in Experience as 'A little black thing among the snow', particularly poignant reflecting the futility and cheapness of the lives of working class children. Blake wanted to highlight the plight of child labour and encourage people to recognise the inequalities of social class, imagery such as this undoubtedly achieves this.