Summary and composition

Here, you can read useful information regarding the summary and composition of the poem “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake.

Summary

A child speaker recalls his mother dying when he was young and his father selling him into labour, as a chimney sweeper. Then he describes Tom Dacre, a fellow chimney sweeper who initially cries when his hair is cut, but the narrator manages to calm him down. Tom dreams of chimney sweepers in coffins and an Angel delivering them from suffering and misery. He wakes up and goes to work with the narrator and other children, but feels happier because he knows his hard work will always be recognised in the afterlife.

Composition

A start off point in poetry analysis is looking at the outer and inner composition. The outer composition refers to the way a poem is structured visually and graphically, while the inner composition refers to the structure of the poem in terms of the ideas expressed by it.

Outer composition

“The Chimney Sweeper” is structured in six four-line stanzas, also known as quatrains. The original print version of the poem, shown below, includes illustrat...