Part A Who is the narrator of this poem? Part B Think about the first four lines of the poem. What is the narrator expressing in these lines? Part C Read the lines five through eight of the poem. What is the narrator expressing in these lines? Part D Think about the first eight lines and the tone of the rest of the poem. Based on the poem, how do you think William Blake felt about child labor in London during the Industrial Revolution? Use at least three pieces of evidence from the poem to support your response. Your answer should be three to four sentences long.
Question 1
You learned that the Industrial Revolution had a profound effect on arts and literature. William Blake was a Romantic poet who lived and worked in London. In 1794, he published a series of poems called Songs of Innocence and Experience. Some of Blake’s poems in this collection reflect upon the challenges of the Industrial Revolution. Read one of his poems below. Then, answer questions based on your reading.
The Chimney-Sweeper
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, and 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, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!--
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and 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, and 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 and 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, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
Part A
Who is the narrator of this poem?
Part B
Think about the first four lines of the poem. What is the narrator expressing in these lines?
Part C
Read the lines five through eight of the poem. What is the narrator expressing in these lines?
Part D
Think about the first eight lines and the tone of the rest of the poem. Based on the poem, how do you think William Blake felt about child labor in London during the Industrial Revolution? Use at least three pieces of evidence from the poem to support your response. Your answer should be three to four sentences long.
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