The narrator is trying to comfort Tom and also present the horrendous nature of how children employed as chimney sweepers live.
William Blake's poem "The Chimney Sweeper" presents a tale of children employed as chimney sweepers. The six-stanza poem, narrated by a small chimney sweeper, shows how children, especially orphans, were treated during the Industrial Revolution.
- The poet uses the voice of a young boy, a chimney sweeper himself, as the speaker of the whole poem.
- In it, the young boy tells us about his life as a chimney sweeper and then moves on to others like him.
- One such boy is Tom Dacre, who is introduced to us in the second stanza.
- The narrator reveals that Tom cried when his head is shaved, but the narrator calms and comforts him by telling him that a shaved head is advantageous for chimney sweepers like themselves.
- By stating that "the soot cannot spoil your white hair", the narrator is trying to present a positive attitude about their 'horrendous' childhood instead of the innocent, joyous and carefree childhood that they desire and should have.
In the second stanza of the poem, the narrator is trying to comfort his friend Tom about his shaved head. But at the same time, the lines also show how children are treated and the miserable world they are forced to live in. These lines reveal the dilemma that young children employed as chimney sweepers are left with.
Learn more about Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper" here:
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