Glencoe Literature Florida Treasures ©2010 Course 5
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
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
COMPARE/CONTRAST
VISUALIZE
INTERPRET IMAGERY
ANALYZE STRUCTURE
ANALYZE MOOD
INFER
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