... They also symbolize death; this profession was a sure death for them because of the hazardous conditions of both the work in general and their poor quality of life. White functions as a contrast. It stands for happiness, playfulness, joyfulness, God, angels, children and innocence. From poem 1, the fourth stanza and the first two lines of the fifth stanza display how white works as a positive element in contrast to black: ... And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run, And wash in a river ...

• Word Count: 2076
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... have not done for children, and he opposes against the distressed life these institutions allow them to endure. Ironically, Blake does not describe the church as a holy sanctuary but as a place where the people "make up a heaven of our misery"(12) because the church that is a heaven for humankind is in reality a made up hell for the children chimneysweepers. Therefore, Blake disapproves of the injustices caused by society. ... Now to Blake's other book "The Songs of Innocence." He is more in love with nature ... And wash in a river, and shine in the sun." This displays that in those tim...

• Word Count: 1046
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

William Blake was born on November 28th, 1757 as the third of five children to a London hosier. Because of the relatively lower middle class status of his father's profession, Blake was raised in the same state of poverty that he would experience throughout his entire life. As a child, he was already fond of painting and was eventually sent to drawing school as a result. Young William received only enough schooling ... farm. 1911 Spring: Yearns for the Yukon and decides to return the hard way by the Edmonton Trail: By canoe down the Mackenzie River, over the Mackenzie Divide via the Rat and d...

• Word Count: 3374
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

... written at around the turn of the 19th century, in Georgian times, to illustrate the authors' views on the City of London. At this time, the industrial revolution was underway and there was vast growth in the population, due to medical advances and people having more children. In my opinion, they are both scathing attacks on both the City and its inhabitants. However, in conventional interpretation, the words in the Wordsworth poem ... human functions such as wearing clothes. He continues this simile giving the river 'a will', something which is unique to people. He says 'The City now d...

• Word Count: 1128
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... or a river was owned by rich people and nobles only instead of common people. A word reveals a political class oppression and a hierarchical society that people were divided into several levels and not every individual had the equal rights. It suggests the oppressive nature of early capitalism. Moreover, this repetition of this word reinforces a sense of grade and structure how the writer felt upon entering the city. Then the repetition of three " ... . The children of the poor had to strive for the rich people's welfare regardless of their own pain. Literally, the word "blackening" ...

• Word Count: 861
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . The image of the lamb is a symbol of new life and, the use of the lamb in the simile that compares Tom's hair with that of the fleece of the lamb, reinforces Blake's contention that poor people are exploited by others and lose their individuality as a result. This use of imagery and simile, once again, sets up a clash between the accepted use of children as chimneysweepers and the value of being an individual as an consequence. The image of the lamb ... is consistent with Blake's frequent use of nature imagery to emphasize the importance of a fresh, free, open world where innocence and...

• Word Count: 1143
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... . These lyrics create an image of a world of tyranny and sickness. In a few of the poems, the children are poor and deprived of joy. As many of the Songs of Experience correspond to the Songs of Innocence, The Chimney Sweeper (Experience), emphasizes the forsaking of the child and the false restrictive devoutness of the adult world. Although Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience create different tones and images in both, Blake remains responsive to the reality of human condition which is exploitive ... this dream with images of hell out of fear and dread of continuing work as a chim...

• Word Count: 1280
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... his head shaved. The narrator, despite his own horrible situation, finds the ability to comfort Tom. Tom has a dream in which thousands of chimney sweepers are trapped in coffins, and what must be the angel of death comes along and lets them out of the coffins and into gorgeous, "heavenly," meadows and streams. Then, after cleaning the soot off of themselves in a river, the chimney sweepers ascend into ... heaven upon clouds. In his dream, the angel directly addresses Tom, and tells him ... something that as Abrams points out is commonly used in children's poems, which Blake's songs of...

• Word Count: 706
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... like a lamb's back, was shaved" gives the impression of the sacrificial lamb, sacrificed into a life of hardship, poverty, and early death. The child dreams of an "Angel who had a bright key and he opened the coffins and set them all free," an angel who carried the word of God and of eternal life. The "river" that they wash in is symbolic of the baptism that cleanses away their sins, and " ... this poem. Setting includes several aspects of a work of fiction including the sensuous world of the work, the time in which the action of the work takes place, and the social environment of the ch...

• Word Count: 2002
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School