王美風(fēng)

【Abstract】In 18th century， little chimney sweepers are common in Britain. Through analysis of William Blakes two poems “The Chimney Sweeper”， this paper compares Blakes ideal life of chimney sweepers with their real life. From sweet dream to cruel reality， Blake has a more profound understanding of little chimney sweepers destiny.

【Key words】chimney sweepers； Blake； ideal； reality

【作者簡介】牛璟祎（1996.10.21- ），女，北京師范大學(xué)外國語言文學(xué)學(xué)院，研究方向：英美文學(xué)。

1. Social Background in England

In 18th century， the lifestyle in Britain became more and more elegant. With these changes， fireplaces were popular in the buildings. Fireplaces were usually connected with the outside by chimneys. The size of the chimney was small， usually 0.08 centiares， even merely 50 square centimeters （King， 2001）. Therefore， the intricate chimneys were difficult to clean by adults， especially chimneys in houses of aristocrats， because there were so many rooms in a house. As a result， the little boys were regarded as chimney sweepers.

2. Comparison of British Chimney Sweepers Life

2.1 Analysis of “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Innocence

In Songs of Innocence， a lovely angel rescued all the chimney sweepers with “a bright key”. “And by came an angel， who had a bright key / And he opened the coffins， and set them all free”. “Coffins” implies sweepers short life. They died of industrial diseases at young ages due to long-time exposure to the soot. “Black” is used as a pun； it is not only the color of coffins， but also the insinuation of the black coal. Black coffins is a metaphor of the dark chimneys full of soot. “He opened the coffins” indicates that those sweepers were away from the dark chimneys with the help of the angel. They escaped from early death， which is Blakes expectation. The chimney sweeper masters also wouldnt force little sweepers to work any more， They got out of the locked coffins. The masters brutally treated those little sweepers， forcing them to climb into the chimneys with fires below these boys feet （Dickens， 1966）. Thence， these little sweepers had no way but to climb up， just like locked in the chimneys. The masters were like the stygian locks. A bright key saved all the sweepers and they were taken to “a green plain”.

“Then down a green plain， leaping， laughing， they run / And wash in a river， and shine in the sun”. These little sweepers regained innocence and freedom. Blake shows his ideal place for those children， “a green plain”， and they enjoyed themselves there. The boys even “wash in a river” and “shine in the sun”. Although sweepers whole body were covered by soot， they were allowed to wash less no more than three times one year. They breathed black air， wore in black clothes， covered by black soot， worked in black chimneys， seldom in sunlight. Nevertheless， in Blakes imaginary ideal world， these sweepers washed themselves freely and played in bright sunlight.

After this happy bath， “Then naked and white， all their bags left behind， / They rise upon clothes， and sport in the wind”. The sweepers also neednt live with the bags all their life. When they worked， they usually carried a bag to put soot in. When they slept， they took those soot bags as pillows and quilts （Nelson， 1995）. Now， they wouldnt take those bags as burden. They even could gain love from Father. Most of the sweepers were from poor-houses， some were sold by parents due to poverty. They were absent from parents love. Nevertheless， Blake imagines fathers holy love for those little sweepers in the poem.

“And the angel told Tom， if hed be a good boy， / Hed have God for his father， and never want joy.” Blake hopes that religious belief could bring warm and love to little sweepers.

In this poem， all the miserable situations disappeared. A bright sight appeared in Toms dream， which is also Blakes ideal world for those chimney sweepers. They all escaped miserable life and regained childrens innocence.

2.2 Analysis of “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Experience

In Songs of Experience， the crying of chimney sweepers was heart-wrenching. “A little black thing among the snow / Crying ‘weep！ ‘weep！ In notes of woe！”. “Little” indicates loveliness and innocence of children. However， this innocence is broken by “black”. This child is black among the snow in frigid winter. This forms a striking contrast between black of the sweeper and white of the snow. Even worse， the child is depicted as a “thing”， not a person. Rhetoric of zoosemy implies chimney sweepers miserable life. They were not treated as a person， but enslaved cruelly as animals by their masters. They never escaped the “black coffins”， not as it is in Songs of Innocence. They were cold， hungry， homeless and cried “ ‘weep！ ‘weep！” “ ‘weep” omiting “s”， actually “sweep！ sweep！”， forms alliteration with “woe”， highlighting the miserable cry of these chimneys. Besides， the omission of “s” suggests that the sweeper was very young， even hadnt learn to articulate words. Blake demonstrates the life of these sweepers from sight “black”， sound “weep” and touch “coldness of snow”.

Then Blake created a conversation between a little sweeper and an adult. “Where are thy father and mother， say？ / They are both gone up to the church to pray”. This is an irony of these sweepers parents. Parents ignored chidrens life， without humanity； still went to church to pray. These little sweepers were deprived of parents love， comparing with fathers love in Songs of Innocence. In deep meaning， parents indifferent to their children reflects the extreme poverty of low-class people. In order to make a living， parents had to sell some of their children to gain money. Narrowly， Blake shows sweepers wretched life； broadly， it demonstrates sufferings of low-class people. Social inhumanity leaded to the poor fate of little chimney sweepers. Blake has a clearer sight into the society than that in Songs of Innocence.

“Because I was happy upon the heath， / And smild among the winters snow， ” “happy upon the heath” and “smiled among the snow” are also ironic. “Heath” is an uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation， a striking contrast to “a green plain” in Songs of Innocence； how can these children be happy in such a deserted place？ Worse still， “among the snow” indicates the chilliness of the weather； how can they smile？ “Smile” and “happy” also shows innocence of children， making the scene more emotive.

“They clothed me in the clothes of death， / And taught me to sing the notes of woe”. “clothes of death” is a metaphor of sweepers “black clothes” contaminated by soot. Plenty of children died from suffocation of soot， so “black clothes” is a symbol of death. Parents send them to work as a sweeper， just send them to die. Even “taught them to sing notes of woe”， how cruel their parents are， which adds more grieved elements to these sweepers.

“And because I am happy and dance and sing / They think they had done me no injury”. “No injury” is absurd. Because sweepers had to climb the long and narrow chimneys， there was no intact skin around their knees （Robert， 1962）； how can there be no injury？

“And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King， / Who make up a heaven of our misery.” “God， Priest and King” symbolize the up-class people in Britain， such as the governor， aristocrats， and priests. Blake reveals the causes of the tragedy. The priests carried children from hospices to chimney sweeper masters so as to relieve the burden of supporting the poor. In contrast， priests lived a luxurious and hedonic life， like “make up a heaven”. These up-class people， “Priest”， “King”， oppressed the low-class people， seeking their own entertainment based on others misery. The whole society was unequal， even the “God” and religious belief couldnt save the poor people. The angel wont appear， no such a sweet dream as it is in Songs of Innocence. Although Blake doesnt describes obviously how terrible the environment where sweepers live in is， the repetition of the phoneme [??] implies this. The sound of [??] is similar to the sound of the winds roar and the sweepers moan （Arizpe， 2006）. This creates a terrible environment from the level of auditory sense， further evoking readers sympathy for the sweepers. In addition， the sound of snowing is similar to the sound of [s]， [z]， [θ]， [?]. Repetition of these sounds easily make readers feel the chilliness of winter.

Through the plain and lyrical language， Blake demonstrates the extremely miserable reality of these little chimney sweepers life in Songs of Experience.

3. Conclusion

William Blake depicted the life of these little chimney sweepers in his two poems “The Chimney Sweeper”. In Songs of Innocence， the poem demonstrates Blakes ideal world for chimney sweepers by a sweet dream. Blake creates a bright future for them. However， his dream breaks up when he recognizes the relentless society. In Songs of Experience， Blake describes the cruel reality. There is no such angel indeed. Religion is hypocritical and governors neglected sufferings of the poor. Little chimney sweepers real life in Songs of Experience contrasts with Blakes ideal world in Songs of Innocence. From the ideal world to the ruthless reality， it is obvious that Blake has a more profound understanding of the society. Churches and governors are origins of this social evil. No one could rescued little chimney sweepers.

References：

[1]Arizpe.2006.Reading Lessons from the Eighteenth Century： Mothers，Children and Texts[M].Staffordshire：Pied Piper Publishing.

[2]Baldick，Robert.1962.Centuries of Childhood：A Social History of Family Life.[M].（2nd ed.）.London：Longman，101-158.

[3]Dickens，Charles.1966.Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society[J].Working papers in Children，65-73.

[4]King，H.W.2001.Making Sense of the Industrial Revolution.Manchester：Manchester University Press.

[5]Nelson，T.G.A.1995.Children，Parents，and the Rise of the Novel：Estate，Blood，and Body[M].Garden City，NY：Anchor Books.