The Chimney Sweeper
by William Blake

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.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd, so I said,
Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, & that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins & set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm

1.	BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE What do you know about children's working conditions during the Industrial Revolution?
2.	COMPARE/CONTRAST Compare and contrast Tom's hair before and after his work as a chimney sweep.
3.	VISUALIZE What kind of picture does Blake paint of the chimney sweeps' lives?
4.	INTERPRET IMAGERY What is important about Blake's use of rural imagery here?
5.	ANALYZE STRUCTURE How is the content of the poem structured thus far?
6.	ANALYZE MOOD What is the mood at this point of the poem?
7.	INFER What can you infer about the speaker from the information provided?