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London in the eighteenth century was not a good place for anyone especially young children. Children during this time had to work as slaves. They had to work as chimney sweepers. They had to do a job that no one wanted to do. The children were forced to live in work houses, because their parents could not afford to feed them. So to keep the children from starving to death, parents would sell their children to people who could feed them. Research concludes the same point. "Of every 1,000 children born in early 18th century London, almost half died before the age of 2. Malnutrition, maternal ignorance, bad water, dirty food, poor hygiene and overcrowding all contributed to this extremely high mortality rate. And if an infant did survive, it then faced the perils of childhood namely malnourishment and ongoing abuse. Many poor children were dispatched to crowded, back breaking workhouses or were apprenticed to tradesmen who used them as unpaid laborers" (Black leaf 1).

Also the living conditions were terrible. Families would drink dirty water, and would leave their trash everywhere. The research that I did supports my opinion. "London was filled with the smell of wet horses and the waste materials associated with them. Sanitation was unheard of. Water was unpurified, and raw sewage ran down city streets in open drains. It was common practice for people to empty their chamber pots out of their windows, and to leave garbage out in the street to rot" (Black leaf 1).

What the poem is saying and my interpretation are very different. In the first stanza, unnamed narrator tells us that his mother died and his father sold him at a very young age. He was so young that he could barely say simple words. He tells us that he cleans chimneys and that he sleeps in dirty.

I believe that in the first stanza of the poem, the unnamed narrator is telling us that his mother died and his father sold him at a very young age. He also is telling us about his job and where he sleeps. The narrator is basically introducing himself to the reader. The most important line in first stanza is when the narrator says "So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep". I believe that he is talking to educated people in London during the 18th century, and basically anyone who is reading the poem. The narrator thinks that anyone who can read are richer than people who can not read and do not have an education. During those times, educated people were the rich people.

In the second stanza, the poem is only saying only introducing Tom. The poem tells us that he cried when his curly hair was shaved. The unnamed narrator tries to comfort Tom when he says, “‘Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head’s bare.You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.”

My interpretation of stanza two is very simple to the poem view. The second stanza is when Tom is introduced. Tom cries when his owner shaved his curly hair. The owner shaved Tom’s head because when Tom is climbing up the chimney his hair gets dirty because of the soot. The narrator cares for Tom and tries to tell Tom that he will be okay. The narrator is like a friend to Tom.

In stanza three four and five, Tom is dreaming. He dreams that thousand of chimney sweepers are locked up in coffins. Next, an angel come and opens the coffins and lets them free. They are laughing and are happy because now they can washing in the river and are free from the job. In stanza five, the angel tells Tom if he is a good boy, God will take him as his son.

My view of these stanzas is that Tom is dreaming. In Tom’s dream, he sees thousands of other young children dying from the job. The angel unlocks the coffins and the children are already dead. They probably died from the smoke or even starvation. The children were happy because they finally get to be normal kids. They get to swim in the river, and play. Tom was having a good dream. The angel gives Tom a lesson. The lesson was if he is good and does his duty as a chimney sweeper then his dream would come true. The angel is real life are the priests of the Catholic Church. The priests are tricking the kids into doing the labor. The priests just wanted them to do the labor. The priests of the Catholic Church are the angels in real life. Back in those days, priests were rich and their houses had a chimney and they needed the chimney clean. The priest told him that to make him fell happy doing that kind of labor.

Finally in the last stanza, the poem is saying that Tom woke up from his dream. He gets back to work and is smiling. He believes what the angel told him. Tom is happy and is doing his labor.

I believe that in the last stanza, Tom wakes up happy. He is happy because of the dream. He figures if he behaves and does his job his dream will come true. Tom wants to live the dream, so he does his work as a chimney sweeper.

The irony of the poem is that we know what their life is going to be, but he does not yet know.

Some of the complains about the bad situations in London at this time is very simple. One is when the narrator says “My father sold me" He does not like that his father sold him. Another bad situation is when the narrator says, "So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep" This is a complain because he is sleeping in dirty. Why would anyone want to sleep in dirty especially a young kid? Another is "Were all of them locked up in coffins of black" This complains is about young children in a coffin. Who would wants to see their young child dead in a coffin. Who would want to imagine a young child in a coffin? I do not think that anyone would want to see their young child in a coffin.



David A