Chimney Sweeper by William Blake The Chimney Sweeper" is the title of two poems by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794

The Chimney Sweeper Sweepers were viewed as subhuman by many. Address a political issue publicized during the time he was writing. Sweepers were viewed as subhuman by many.

Child Labor and Poor Conditions Written to protest the living conditions, working conditions, and the overall treatment of young chimney sweeps in the cities of England. In 1788, there was an attempt to pass an act to improve the treatment and working conditions of these young children. This would have made many people, including Blake, aware of the lives that these chimney sweeps would live.

This…..

NOT THIS…

In England, during the 1700′s and 1800′s Master Sweeps would buy young children from orphanages and take in young homeless children from the streets and turn them into indentured servants. Small boys between the ages of 5 and 10, although most were under the age of seven, and some were even as young as four.

Sweep the chimneys naked so their masters would not have to replace clothing that would have been ruined in the chimneys, and they were rarely bathed. Children slept in cellars on bags of the soot that they had swept and they were poorly fed and clothed.

Ailments and death Many killed by fires in chimneys or died early anyway of either respiratory problems or cancer. Left children with ankles and spines deformed and twisted kneecaps from climbing up chimneys that were about nine inches in diameter.

“Light a Fire Under You!” Weren’t done until their heads poked out of the chimney top. Because the chimneys were extremely narrow, many of the children were reluctant to wriggle into them. It was a common practice for the master sweep or his assistant to actually light a small fire in the fireplace or hold lighted straw under their feet or even poke and prod the children with pins to force them up to the top.

Job Related Ailments Twisted spines and kneecaps, deformed ankles, eye inflammations and respiratory illnesses. Many also suffered from the first known industrial disease ‘chimney sweep’s cancer’ caused by the constant irritation of coal tar soot on the naked skin. Climbing boys choked and suffocated to death from inhaling the chimney dust or from getting stuck in the narrow and convoluted chimney flues. Casualties were also frequent as many boys were maimed or killed from falling or from being badly burned.

‘Weep, ‘Weep… Often slept in cellars on bags of soot and used emptied soot bags as blankets. Sickly, rarely bathed and begged for handouts of food and clothing from their customers as all the money they earned went to their masters