... it with what they should have been doing at this tender stage in their lives: 'leaping' and 'laughing' in the sunshine. In the Songs of Experience version, the narrator introduces the boy chimney sweep as no more than a 'little black thing'. The child is so young that he cannot even pronounce the traditional cry of 'sweep, sweep' which the chimney sweeps of Blake's time called out to advertise their ... this woman, and has transformed her empathy with the children into envy, even hatred. Unlike the nurse of Innocence, she does not encourage the children to enjoy the pleasures of their y...

• Word Count: 1564
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate