2nd Version
In the first sentence it's emphasised that the chimneysweeper is a child who has been sold into labour by his parents, the second line "Weep! Weep!" is mentioned again, this is because of the child’s pronunciation of ‘sweep'.
This poem discusses the misery of a child who is seemingly happy on the outside, yet is feeling terrible inside. At the beginning of the poem, he is in the snow, comparing how he, being much darker himself, from his dirty duties, than the clean white snow surrounding him. He is asked about his parents, and responds that since he had always seemed so care free and happy, despite the conditions he has to work in, his parents only burdened him because he seemed to be able to handle this. The tone of the poem implies that this is not the case, however, the child goes on further to comment about his external appearance of always being happy, and because of this, his parents feel no hesitation, nor any regret, at having given the young boy the sort of life he now lives. Their consciences are clearly at ease because they spend a lot of their time in the church, outwardly being religious, yet oblivious to the hard life they have condemned their young child to. They seem unaware of what they have done to their son, and continue with their lives believing that no harm will come from the situation, but they don’t like the idea that their son appears still happy despite being sold and apparently enjoying his work.
The message or theme of this poem is perhaps very simple; appearance doesn’t always show the truth. The parents sold their child because of his actions and behaviour to the condition of his life; looking more deeply would have shown that he is unhappy with matters and perhaps caught in a spell of discouragement. His feelings were innocent and calm yet somehow the parents were secure in believing that he could handle whatever experience they had thrown upon him. Maybe the parents chose not to look more deeply and went on believing that things were fine; maybe it is true and they truly were not alerted. Either way, it is unfair to the young boy to lead such a life of hard work and unhappiness, even though such a life was more common in the time of the poem than it is in our society today. All the blame cannot be attributed to the parents. Their son could have spoken up and told them of his feelings. He could have shown a bit of the misery he was feeling deep down inside, rather than outwardly appearing happy with his lot. The parents continue living their lives, not taking the trouble to really look at the boy and his daily drudgery, in the same way the boy continues on acting happy, without his parents noticing that it is not true, in a way the boy fails his parents by not speaking up and letting them know what his true feelings are. It is only when a stranger stumbles upon him, blackened and dirty from his job as a chimney sweeper, standing out against a background of pure white snow, that he is finally noticed.
Comparison of both versions of The Chimney Sweep by William Blake
Having read and enjoyed both poems my opinion is that in version 1 Blake tells us of the views of the young sweeps their fears, their hopes and their dreams. The account is that of a young sweep telling his story of how due to his mother's death his father sold him into child labour even before he had time to learn to talk properly, and how despite this hardship he was able to comfort another boy sweep.
In the 2nd version the young sweep is telling his story to a stranger which relates to his abandonment by his parents, of how they assume that because he appears a happy child all is well. Although he had been a happy child when allowed to play this had been taken from him and replaced with the life of a chimney sweep.
In both versions the reader is made aware of how young the child is with the words "weep, weep, weep" underlining the fact that he is too young to say the word "sweep". Also the stark contrast of the black sweeps and the cleanliness of snow and bright white hair is used in both versions to describe the dirty and horrible job of a chimney sweep. There is a strong religious theme running through both poems in version 1 Tom dreams of being locked in a coffin but being released by an angel with a bright key and how if he had God for a father he would never want joy. Where as in version 2 the boy sweeper says how his parents go to praise god and his priest and king. "Who made up a heaven of our misery". Perhaps the biggest impact on me personally was that both poems were based around the theme of "child neglect".
However I did enjoy both poems and look forward to getting to know William Blake better.
