Themes and message

The poem “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake deals with a couple of themes: innocence and faith, and misery and death. The poet’s intention is clearly one of critique, as he tries to make society aware of the miserable lives working children have and that resorting to God and religion as a way of ignoring or accepting this situation is a hypocritical attitude.

Innocence and faith

The theme of innocence and faith/religion is explored in the poem through the character of Tom, a boy who has just become a chimney sweeper. Unable to deal with the harsh reality of being probably sold into labour, the boy finds refuge in faith, in God and afterlife. In his dream, the typical innocence children should enjoy is depicted as they run free, clean (pure) in what resembles Heaven:

Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all ...