Infant Sorrow
My mother groaned, my father wept,
Into the dangerous world I leapt;
Helpless, naked, piping loud,
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.
Struggling in my father's hands,
Striving against my swaddling bands,
Bound and weary, I thought best
To sulk upon my mother's breast.
Essentially, this poem talks about the helplessness that man faces as soon as he comes into this world – “dangerous world” and “helpless, naked”. It would seem that man has no choice but to succumb to oppression and social/political authority. Such oppression continues on throughout one’s life. Furthermore, “like a fiend hid in a cloud” might imply that although all men are born innocent, that innocence is soon corrupted by this world. Through this poem, Blake is actually criticizing the authoritative control which the church, state and ruling class have over the common people.
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 & 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, & that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & 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 & 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 & 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 & never want joy.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
This poem describes the miserable lives that young children had at England during the 18th century. William Blake was criticizing on the fact that young children were forced into labor, even as young as five years old. One of the common professions for the children was to be a chimney sweeper and it was one of the most hazardous jobs for the children. In the poem, Blake explained how the children were sold by their parents to master sweepers and the children lived in terrible conditions. The poem clearly describes the oppression of little children and their exploitation in the chimney sweeping industry. Blake also questioned religion and the society for allowing such inhumane practice to flourish in England. It is as though the society took advantage of the children’s innocence and traded their lives for selfish motives.
The Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
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