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 the natural should be dominant. Blake, once again, uses nature to help convey the idea that soot, which is represents the greed and tainted morals of the exploiters, can be cleansed when he says, "Then down a green plain, leaping laughing they run/And wash in a river and shine in the sun" (15-16). Through this use of symbolism, Blake manages to set up a clash between the widely held belief that the Industrial Revolution is a great thing and the values that are being violated, such as people's freedom, to achieve this progress.
In addition, Blake sets up such a clash regarding The Church of England. The chimneysweepers discussed in this poem are not aided by the Church. The Church can only stand by the inarticulate, faint and helpless while these suppressed children continue to carry out their inhumane tortures. The sweepers, in a dream, believe an Angel would .
come by "who had a bright key/And open"d the coffins and set them all free" (13-14). This is a sign from God and is symbolic of the Church itself. The chimneysweepers believe that the Church could help them despite the reality is that nothing is done for them and they remain oppressed. Through this use of symbolism, Blake has set up a clash between the common belief that the Church is perfect and good in every way and the value that they do nothing for these poor people who believe so ardently in them.
Another symbolic effect composed by Blake, to representing the living standards of the common people of the time, was the use of coffins. "Were all of them lock"d up in coffins of black" (12) illustrates the sweeper's deathly lives, imprisoned in chimneys and locked up in poverty and ill usage.
I. Medea's power II. Medea's passion A. Medea's love for Jason B. Jason's love for his children III. Medea's revenge A. Uncontrollable rage B. Death of Kreon and his daughter C. Death of Medea's children IV. Medea's disillusion A. Causes her rebellion B. No sympathy V. The dangers of a p...
As he makes the transition from innocence to experience changes in character occur, heightening tragic feeling. ... He was never killed, but rather was given to a childless king and queen which lovingly raised him. ...
In 1798 his great-uncle the fifth Baron Byron, died childless, and just after his tenth birthday Byron inherited his title. ... The author seeks his own innocence through her beauty; this is the author's definition of ideal woman. ...
However he takes advantage of her innocence of her childlike nature. The maternal relationship that exists between the two women is founded on the fact that Mrs Marroner at the age of thirty three is childless after five years of marriage and that Gerta is fifteen years younger and separated from her family and country. ...
Although the ending of Kate Chopin's The Awakening is a sad conclusion to an inspirational story, sadness and despair are not the central themes of the novel. The novel's ending should not be construed as Edna's failure to continue her pursuit of individualism and independence, rather one could see...