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Innocence and Experience: William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"

Article discusses the differences between the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience versions of William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper."

To start with, at even the most superficial, it would seem that Blake is trying to make a statement. By simply comparing the physical size of each poem, a reader can make a judgment about the perspective of each respective poem. Since it seems that the innocence version of "The Chimney Sweeper" comes from the attitude of a parent of a chimney sweep, it is appropriate the poem would have a length of twenty-four lines and six stanzas. After all, this standpoint would have gone through various stages, or stanzas, in its own life, and, since this point of view would have been old enough to have children, a length of twenty-four lines would seem to illustrate a longer life.

Conversely, though, the experience version of "The Chimney Sweeper" that seems to be coming out of a child chimney sweep has a miniscule twelve lines and three stanzas. Since a chimney sweep would, in fact, be a child, and chimney sweeping frequently resulted in death, the short length of this poem seems to say that, in actuality, the chimney sweeps life was a short as this poem.

Delving further into actual content, the first stanza of the innocence version acts as a parent making an excuse as to why a parent would allow his or her child to be put in such a position. Blake writes, "When my mother died I was very young,/ And my father sold me while yet my tongue/ could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"" (Innocence 1-3). Coming from a parent's perspective, the mother had just been lost, and the well being of this child could not be appropriately afforded. So to give the child a better life, the father sells the child into sweeping.

In reality, the child seems to use his poem, in the experience version, to curse his parents. This version says, "A little black thing among the snow/ Crying " 'weep, 'weep," in notes of woe!/ "Where are thy father amp; mother? say?" (Experience 1-3). The child is depicted as one covered in soot and standing on the snowy roof tops. While he may be singing chimney sweeping songs, he does such in a state of depression, and wonders where his mother and father could be.

Even with death being an imminent consequence of chimney sweeping, the parental perspective seems to deal with it this concept with little to no guilt. Blake's innocence version of "The Chimney Sweeper" seems to have a parent's point of view brushing off the death of children. The poem says "And by came an Angel who had a bright key,/ [in lines 9-12, Blake has written that one of the sweeps has had a dream in which he saw numerous dead chimney sweeps locked in coffins]/ And he open'd the coffins amp; set them all free;/ Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run," (Innocence 13-15). So while the parent at the beginning of this poem has already made an excuse for selling his child into chimney sweeping, he know seems to go as far to excuse himself from the guilt of a death that could face his child. This part of the poem suggests that if a child is dedicated to sweeping even to the point of death, that he will be granted the paradise of heaven.

Again, the experience version of the poem does not take quite a light view of the matter. In the experience version, the child says:

"Because I was happy upon the heath,

And smil'd among the winter's snow;

They clothed me in the clothes of death,

And taught me to sing the notes of woe. (Experience 5-8).

This stanza again seems to be harboring some resentment against the child's parents. The child is saying that before he was a sweep, he was happy, and he was free to play. Now, though, his parents have sold him into what seems to be certain death, and taught him some of the chimney sweeping songs to keep his spirits up. This stanza offers no excuse for the parents, as they have literally sold out their child.

Since, again in relation to the physical length of each poem, the life of the parents is longer than that of their chimney sweep child, the parents need a longer explanation in order to clear themselves from a life of guilt. As such, the parent's perspective presented in the innocence version needs to provide a reason from parent to child as to the benefits of being a sweep, in order to clear the parent's conscience. Continuing from where the "Angel" releases the sweeps from their coffins in lines thirteen through fifteen, the innocence version goes on, "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 amp; never want joy." (Innocence 18-20). This passage seems to have the parent explaining to his child that if you work hard, you will get to heaven. Interestingly enough, by mentioning that the child would have "God for his father," it would seem that the father is almost apologizing for being a poor parent.

The endings of each respective poem work in an interesting manner. By reading them back to back, the reader can infer that the parent's perspective presented in the innocence version could be a reaction to the attitude the child puts on in the experience version. Although the child presents a negative attitude about his parents throughout the poem, his actions when they are around present a different message to them. In the last stanza, the poem says, "And because I am happy, amp; dance amp; sing,/ They think they have done me no injury,/ And are gone to praise God amp; his Priest amp; King," (Experience 9-11). So while the child is miserable in his work as a sweep, he puts on a happy face when his parents are around. The tone of the previous two stanzas would lead a reader to think that the child would want his parents to feel guilty, but, instead, the child puts on a positive attitude as to not burden his parents with his well-being.

While Songs of Innocence was published before Songs of Experience, the ending to "The Chimney Sweeper" in the innocence version would seem as though it is coming from a parent having witnessed the actions of the child at the end of the experience version of the same poem. The last stanza of the innocence version says, "And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark/ And got with our bags amp; our brushes to work./ Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy amp; warm;" (Innocence 21-23). The parent seems to be relating the sight of his child enjoying his work, and this exonerates the parent from any guilt.

The final line of each poem also provides insight into the attitude of each perspective. The innocence version has consistently harped on the idea that hard work pays off in the end, while the experience version has been stating that hard work in this line of work has brought sharp pain and misery. So when the innocence version of "The Chimney Sweeper" ends by saying, "So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm," it works in sharp contrast to the experience version (Innocence 24). The experience version ends by saying, "...God amp; his Priest amp; King,/ who make up a heaven of our misery." (Experience 11-12). This last line in the experience version seems to tear down the life lesson of the innocence version. While the innocence version argues that hard work will bring a person closer to God, the experience version seems to say that hard work, at least as a chimney sweep, will sink a person into suffering, in order to be closer to God.

So while Songs of Innocence generally relates to a child's view of life and the world around them, and Songs of Experience generally explains life as it actually is, "The Chimney Sweeper" is on example to the contrary. Because a parent would have to deal with the guilt of sending a child into a very dangerous position, the parent would need away to explain away his or her guilt, while, on the other side of things, a child would need to come to terms with how a parent could place their own child into such a compromising position. As such, it would seem that, through a closer reading, the innocence version of "The Chimney Sweeper" relates the naïve perspective of a parent while the experience version of "The Chimney Sweeper" relates the harsh reality that the child has to face.