This document provides background information about William Blake and his poem "The Chimney Sweeper". It discusses Blake's life and work, including that he was a 19th century writer and artist from London. The document also provides historical context about child labor during Blake's time, such as young boys working as chimney sweeps from a young age in dangerous conditions. It aims to analyze Blake's poem in relation to this social context of childhood in 18th century London.

1. To explore William Blake’s poem ‘The
Chimney Sweeper’ in relation to the
historical/social context.

2. What does this
picture say
about London in
18th
century?
Hogarth’s ‘Gin Alley’ 5 minutes

3. What does this
picture say
about London in
18th
century?
Poverty
Lawlessness
Immoral behaviour
Drunkenness
?

4. What does this
picture say
about childhood in
18th
century?
Consider:
Poverty
Illness/disease
Employment
Crime
Death
Behaviour
Child Workers 15 minutes

5. The shabby clothes
on this boy
shows ……….
…………………………
………………………….
about childhood in
London.

6. To explore William Blake’s poem ‘The
Chimney Sweeper’ in relation to the
historical/social context.

7.  William Blake was a 19th century writer and artist in a
period called The Romantic Age.
 He was born on 28th
November 1757 in the Soho district
of London, England.
 He only briefly attended school, being chiefly educated
at home by his mother.
 Originally an artist, Blake completed a seven-year
apprenticeship in 1779 and became a copy engraver.
 He privately published his Poetical Sketches, a collection
of poems in 1783.
 In 1782, Blake married Catherine Sophia Boucher, who
was illiterate.
 In 1787 his beloved brother, Robert, died from
tuberculosis at age 24.
 Blake died in 1827, aged 70.
 Many of Blake's best poems are found in two
collections: Songs of Innocence (1789) and the Songs of
Experience (1794.)

8.  If you were a child from a poor family you worked and worked
and worked .......
 Children were often forced to work almost as soon as they
could walk and very long hours.
 Children had no choice - they needed to work to help their
families earn enough money to live.
 Chimney sweeping was a job children could do better than
adults.
 Small boys (starting at the age of 5 or 6 years) would be sent
scrambling up inside the chimney to scrape and brush soot
away.
 Children often got stuck or froze with terror in the cramped
darkness.
 The Master Chimney Sweeper, would simply light the fire
underneath to 'encourage' them to get on with their work.
 Some boys got stuck and died of suffocation.
 Thousands of poor children worked and lived on the streets.
Many were orphans, others were simply neglected.

9. When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
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;
And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins & set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.
Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father & never want joy.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
The Chimney Sweeper
By
William Blake

10. Each group will analyze one stanza. You will be given a key
poetic feature or phrase to identify or you will be asked
to analyze the whole stanza.
Use your poetic language glossary to help
you.
You will then relate your findings to the
picture of child workers.
15 minutes

11. Pick one person from your group to write your findings on
the picture of the child workers.
Pick one person to explain to the rest of the class what
you have identified in your stanza and what you think it
means.
By the end of this, you will all have added
more points to the picture of child workers,
and gained more understanding about what
it was like for children living in the 18th
Century.

12. The shabby clothes
on this boy
shows ……….
…………………………
………………………….
about childhood in
London.

13. To explore William Blake’s poem ‘The
Chimney Sweeper’ in relation to the
historical/social context.