Also in this period religion plays a very important and prominent part in people’s lives and due to Henry VIII’s bloody convergence from Catholicism to Protestantism religious persecution was very high. As a result, what we would probably now see as draconian, ‘rules of the faith’ were vigorously followed by almost everyone. For those who didn’t conform, they risked deep trouble, such as being accused of being a witch which could mean being executed. The whole ideal of religion was one that Blake found totally baffling, he could not understand the lengths people were prepared to go to apparently please their god. But Blake had no problems seeing the negative affect of religious beliefs and this plays a prominent part in both sonnets especially in ‘Songs of Experience’.
‘And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King,
Who make up our heaven of misery.’
The Chimney Sweep in ‘Songs of Innocence’ is about a young child who has been sold off by his father to be a chimney sweep, and subsequently goes through hell as any boy who at four years old who becomes a chimney sweep would. The boy goes on to dream about how his life will be in heaven with all its well documented luxuries and how superior it will no doubt be to the total hell he is experiencing now. If he is good and does his duty, he need not be afraid because he will go to heaven and live happily,
‘And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy
He’d have god for his father & never want joy.’
Religion was used as a means of control, people were in fear of God and of going to hell, if they did not conform. This was especially beneficial at this time when the working class masses were seen as fodder to fuel the Industrial Revolution, and an obedient workforce which could be exploited was particularly advantageous. People feared the consequence of any wrong doings would be go to hell, depicted as a scene of fire and brimstone and relentless suffering. But was this threatened hell any different to the life for instance of a chimney sweep? It highlights the innocence of children who accept that they must live this harsh life as a chimney sweep in order to reap the rewards of a happy life in Heaven and do not question the evil, injustice and cruelty of those making them work in this way.
‘So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.’
The main theme of the poem is one to highlight the plight of young children who have been forced or sold into being a chimney sweep. It also brings to prominence the total lack of human rights that children and the working class had, and how he feels the disgusting way they are treated and are seen as an expendable commodity. Children of the working classes were almost seen as a different race to children of the middle and upper classes, where the idea of these children being used as child labour would be totally abhorrent. Blake seems to emphasise the unquestioning innocence of these child chimney sweeps when he juxtaposes it with the cruelty and injustice of their situation. Children who should have been protected and nurtured by adults, were instead exploited and brutally treated.
‘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.’
However, in ‘Songs of Experience’ this innocence has been lost. A contrast is made between the unknowing innocent acceptance of the small boy from Songs of Innocence and the more worldly wise views in Songs of Experience where the chimney sweep is aware that he has been treated wrongfully. There is a sad realisation that there is needless pain and suffering in the world, which could be prevented. It is as if he is saying that just because there is a promise of heaven after death it is no excuse to mistreat the living, particularly young children, as if their life on earth is futile. This highlights what Blake is saying about the two contrary states of the human soul, innocence, when the child’s imagination has simply the function of completing its own growth and experience, when it is faced with the harsh realities and inequalities of life.
‘And because I am happy, & dance & sing,
They think they have done me no injury’.
The perspective of heaven is also contrasted. The experience of the chimney sweep in songs of Experience suffocates his joy of being in Heaven in that he should not have had to endure such a harsh life on earth to warrant a heaven on death.
‘who make up a heaven of our misery.”
Whereas in Songs of Innocence the chimney sweep is innocent of his bad treatment, has obvious joy at the prospect of Heaven and accepts that his role as a chimney sweep must be endured to earn a place in Heaven.
‘And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy,
. He’d have God for his father & never want joy.’
Both versions of the Chimney Sweep use imagery. In Experience the sweep is described as,
‘A little black thing among the snow’.
This emphasises the futility of the young boy, just a little black thing, not even a boy or a child. The colour black also suggests death and negativity in general as well as symbolising a loss of hope. Also in the very job he does to earn a living he comes across oppressinve quantities of blackness in the form of soot which coats his body inside and out reinforcing the association with death.
In Innocence the imagery used reflects this innocence and more positive state of mind,
‘That curl’d like a lamb’s back………….,
‘You know that soot cannot spoil your white hair.’
The words lamb and white reflect this innocence and in the second quote it contrasts the blackness of the soot which cannot stifle the purity and innocence of the white hair.
Also by describing the boys in his dream as,
‘then naked and white…………..’
reflects this innocence and purity.
Heaven is described with imagery of lightness,
‘……….shine in the sun.’
‘they rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.’
This makes the reader feel that the suffering of life can be endured because the rewards of heaven are so rich. This view of heaven is contrasted with the gloom and misery of life on earth,
‘Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black.’
So that heaven is depicted as a brilliant release from the worldly existence.
The two poems are complete contrasts of each other, black versus white, dark versus light and it is this juxtaposition which emphasises this contrast and the contrast between innocence and experience, rich and poor, upper class and working class, hope and hopelessness.
Blake’s use of imagery shows that there are ‘two contrary states of Human Nature’ in Songs of Innocence even those who live harsh lives retain spiritual resilience, joy and contentment and dream of a better world. But in songs of Experience these dreams have been squashed by the harsh realities of experience which has led to discontent and a feeling of futility, sadness and loss.
Both poems are written using rhyming couplets at some stage, Experience has three stanzas and Innocence has six stanzas. Experience is written in a more distant and impersonal style reflecting the effect of experience and has a not of gloom and hopelessness. It is written almost like a nursery rhyme, it has a child-like rhyme, similar to a nursery rhyme – something the boy may never have heard. Whereas Innocence is more personal the children are given names and do not sound like objects. Innocence also includes more detail making it sound more like an individual story. This has the effect of making it more hopeful and optimistic.
Blake makes good use of various literary techniques and as I mentioned previously he uses onomatopoeia very effectively in the second line of Songs of Experience. Blake removes the ‘s’ from ‘sweep’ to create ‘’weep’ which culminates in the line;
‘Crying ‘’weep, ’weep’ in notes of woe.’
This creates the affect of a play on words as it shows how the pain he his suffering is due to the totally non-vocational occupation he has which is being a chimney sweep where he spends much of his day going ‘sweep, sweep’.
In conclusion, the two contrary states of the Human Soul Blake discusses in the two versions of The Chimney Sweep, are Innocence where the child sees nothing bad in the world and trusts in God, and Experience where the child realises the harshness and futility of life; he has been let down by adults who should have protected him, his innocence has been lost because of the thoughtless and uncaring behaviour of adults. The significance of his writing could lie in whether one believes children are born innocent, trusting and pure and so should be nurtured and protected to prevent exposure to the harsh realities of life which might have a detrimental affect 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 naïve 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.
