The Chimney Sweeper: A Little Black Thing Among The Snow
William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)
A little black thing among the snow,
Crying 'weep! 'weep!' in notes of woe!
'Where are thy father and mother? say?'
'They are both gone up to the church to pray.
Because I was happy upon the heath,
And smil'd 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 are gone to praise God and his Priest and King,
Who make up a heaven of our misery.'
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 683 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABB XAXA CDCD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 483 |
Words | 102 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Chimney Sweeper: A Little Black Thing Among The Snow" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/39164/the-chimney-sweeper:-a-little-black-thing-among-the-snow>.
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