The poem strikes a continual contrast between light and dark, like the natural, naked whiteness of Tom's hair, and the boy's bodies in heaven, "naked and white," with all of the unnecessary baggage of their labor "left behind." The poem also contra Continue Reading...
The fact that the unnamed narrator, who could not have been more than five or six years old, shows a young boy's chilling resignation to his fate. These passages therefore show how thoroughly social conventions can "brainwash" society members, espe Continue Reading...
Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper "s Romanticism was an intellectual, literary, and artistic movement that took place during the second half of the eighteenth century. William Blake, an English poet, painter, and printmaker, explores opposing views in S Continue Reading...
This job also gave him nightmares ("That thousands of sweepers... were all locked up in coffins of black") which shows that being a chimney sweep caused him much personal pain and distress. In Dunn's poem "Hard Work," we find a similar young boy who Continue Reading...
Romantic Lit Romantic notions in Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper" Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that occurred during the second half of the 18th century. During this time, a shift from previously established Enlighte Continue Reading...
William Blake Social Indictment and a Religious Vision of Salvation in William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper" Written in 1789 and published in the collection, Songs of Innocence, William Blake's poem "The Chimney Sweeper," shows the cruel world of b Continue Reading...
Blake's "London" My Questions: What are the "bans" the poet is speaking of in line 9 and what do they have to do with suffering? What can be done about man's suffering? Why does Blake call it a marriage hearse instead of a marriage coach? Willia Continue Reading...
The boys can only achieve freedom in their dreams, because the reality of their situation is so hopeless. Dunn's boy worker works hard, but he is not consumed by his work, and he knows it is not a permanent, horrible situation. Dunn's poem, on the Continue Reading...
The fear and the misery cannot be escaped. The image here is of a town brimming with people and yet they are alienated and oppressed. One of the most powerful literary techniques Blake employs in the poem is irony. In the beginning of the poem, aft Continue Reading...
This concept reveals the complexity of "psychological and physical damage" (Pagliaro), leaving one can to wonder, "whether it can be stopped and its root causes done away with ever" (Pagliaro). The answer to this question, and this state of mankind, Continue Reading...
As night looms, he hears "How the youthful Harlot's curse/Blasts the new-born Infant's tear, / And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse" (14-6). Even the populations' state of mind is represented with negative imagery. It is also important to no Continue Reading...
" The use of "coffins in black" as symbolism for death aptly justifies the use of the word "weep" to capture the abusive nature of the sweepers' work, not to mention the unfair conditions in work these young workers were forced to agree with. Lackin Continue Reading...
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker whose works continue to influence readers today. His collection of illuminated poems contained in one of his most well-known works, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, provide opposin Continue Reading...
The effect enhances the tone and rhythm of the poem, which is quite differently experienced when reading from print. Reading the poem visually also assists with content and meaning. Listening to Stallworthy is much more of a purely musical experien Continue Reading...
Childhood Poets of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century concerned themselves with childhood and its various experiences, but the particular historical and aesthetic contexts within which different poets wrote affected their perspe Continue Reading...
Shakespeare and Blake A prevalent issue in English literature is how social status affects individuals. Two writers that are able to explore the negative aspects of social status are William Shakespeare and William Blake. In Shakespeare's Othello, Continue Reading...
Romantic ideal in the poetry of William Blake, William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman shares the attitude that the most worthy part of human existence lies in simplicity and deep emotion rather than rational thought. Romanticism is based upon a movemen Continue Reading...
Labor in Europe in the 19th Century: Exploitation and the Rise of Labor Unions As Carolyn Tuttle of Lake Forest College points out, the first textile mills in England were bad enough to elicit the opprobrious condemnation of none other than Charles Continue Reading...
The last stanza is the protagonist's projection of what he thinks the future will hold. He imagines himself relating this day with a sigh to another, and letting them know that when he came to the fork in the road he took the road less traveled, an Continue Reading...
Because I was happy upon the heath, And smiled among the winter's snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And ar Continue Reading...
Although the speaker means his words to be comforting to Tom, the reader is likely to find it grotesque. The speaker tells the reader that Tom had a dream, where the young sweepers were set free of their "coffins of black" by an angel and were allo Continue Reading...
Most individuals fail to appreciate life to the fullest because they concentrate on being remembered as some of the greatest humans who ever lives. This makes it difficult for them to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, considering that they waste Continue Reading...
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer well-known for his macabre poems and short stories. Written before his death in 1849, "Annabel Lee" keeps in line with many of his previous poems and centers around the theme of the death of a beauti Continue Reading...
" (Hendricks) Truth and culture are therefore seen to be created and destroyed by others for their own ends. In conclusion, the three literary works discussed above are in many respects very different but also indicate certain continuities of intent Continue Reading...
Last Duchess Jealousy, Rage, and Possession in Browning's "My Last Duchess" Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" emphasizes Victorian ideals of women and allows readers to understand how they were objectified. In this macabre poem, Browning uses th Continue Reading...
Road not Taken, Robert Frost uses the setting, mood, and characterization to help illuminate the theme of choice symbolized by the road not taken. The poem uses various literary devices to describe choice. The poem is set in the woods, where two r Continue Reading...
