The Chimney Sweeper
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.
Theres little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lambs 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.
Marxist Theory
Even though marxism had not been definded as a theory in Blakes time you can still see how it affected his writtings and had a role in how he wrote. In this poem he refers to child labor and the theme of innocence using marxism. The reader gets the secen of how the working class is seperated from the upper class and that there is a reason why they work. They have something hagging over there heads to keep them from leaving.
Why Was Cupid a Boy Feminist
Why was Cupid a boy,
And why a boy was he?
He should have been a girl,
For aught that I can see.
For he shoots with his bow,
And the girl shoots with her eye,
And they both are merry and glad,
And laugh when we do cry.
And to make Cupid a boy
Was the Cupid girl's mocking plan;
For a boy can't interpret the thing
Till he is become a man.
And then he's so pierc'd with cares,
And wounded with arrowy smarts,
That the whole business of his life
Is to pick out the heads of the darts.
'Twas the Greeks' love of war
Turn'd Love into a boy,
And woman into a statue of stone--
And away fled every joy.
Feminist Theory
A feminist would approve of this poem. They would be wondering the same thing on why cupid is not a girl because of their powerful love. Why would cupid be a boy? Where is the female version of this character? This poem tells us just about everything on a feminist's mind.
The Little Boy Lost
"Father, father, where are you going?
Oh do not walk so fast!
Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
Or else I shall be lost."
The night was dark, no father was there,
The child was wet with dew;
The mire was deep, and the child did weep,
And away the vapour flew.
Deconstruction Theory
Through the deconstruction lens, the reader could see well more than just a little boy lost from his father. Where is the mother in all of this? Maybe the two of them miss the mother. Regardless, something is lost, but I think someone shouldn’t look past that it may be the father’s mind that got lost for leaving his son.
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