The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence) : Quotations

Quotations

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.

Exp:These lines are narrated by the speaker introducing himself. He claims that his father sold him and now he is working as a sweeper. 

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.

Exp: In these lines, the speaker introduces a young boy named Tom. Tom was worried about his life and because his hair was shaved. Then the speaker consoles him until he sleeps. 

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,

And he opened the coffins & set them all free;

Exp: Tom was dreaming that an angel came, removed the pin of the coffin, and set the sweepers free who were in the coffin. 

And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy,

He’d have God for his father & never want joy.

Exp: The angel says to Tom that he behaved well to God. That’s why it is god’s responsibility to make sure he is happy.