The world portrayed in the poems written by William Blake, give us a glimpse of life in the 18th century. Life was often harsh and difficult, and people were generally miserable—Imprisoned in their lives, unable to improve them.
In the poems The Chimney Sweeper, blake introduces the reoccurring theme of the chimney sweeps of the 18th century. These chimney sweepers were actually young children that were sold as “slaves” to work on cleaning out chimneys. These children would start working at a very young age and would continue until they simply became too large to fit inside the chimney any longer.
The working conditions for these children were terrible. They worked naked, in order to keep their clothes clean, and they also shaved their heads to keep the soot out of their hair. The life of a chimney sweep was likely dangerous one and many children probably met their death before they were very old.
In the first Chimney Sweeper poem, a poem of innocence, Blake shows how the religion was used to help imprison the children. The kids were motivated by bribing and threatening them with religion, telling them that if they were “good” and did their duty, God would reward them with a life in heaven. However, if they were “bad” it is assumed that bad things will also happen to them.
In the second Chimney Sweeper poem, a poem of experience, Blake returns to the theme of the children chimney sweepers, although this time he is more blunt and to the point. Clearly here Blake shows his contempt towards the institutions of that society, the monarchy and again the church.
The naive parents cannot see anything wrong with their children’s situation so they go to church to praise their God and their King. Instead of providing a safe, secure and nurturing environment for these kids, ironically these are the same two institutions, which are serving to destroy and create the most misery for the children.
Blake expands on the misery of the common people in his poem London. London shows paints a depressing picture of the downtrodden 18th century working class citizen. Exhausted, frustrated, weakened and broken, the people of that time didn’t seem to have much to look forward to. Blake suggests that these people have created their own chains and are in fact, held back by limitations of their own construct. Their church, their king, their government, all created by their own civilization in order to improve life are actually corrupting it more.
The will and the life of the people is dead. I think this is best represented in the line “the soldier’s sigh runs in blood down palace walls”.
Society has created their own prisons and now they pay for it with their life.
In the last poem, The Silesian Weavers by Heine, we are shown a similar outlook as Blake. The weavers are creating a death shroud for their country, Germany, in which they are weaving three different curses.
The first curse, is a curse to the god which they prayed to. The god, which they prayed to even as they were cold and starving and waiting, hoping but never receiving any assistance. The people feel abandoned by their so-called loving god which as left them to die. The people naturally feel angered that even their all-powerful god is unwilling to come to their aid.
Secondly, the weavers curse the King. The King (or monarchy in general?) is depicted as a cruel construct who’s only goal is to milk every last profit out of his people. Although they pay their King with their money and their lives, they receive no protection in return.
Finally, the weavers curse the people of the country, themselves. They curse them for allowing this situation to develop into what it is today, for neither the Church or their King could exist without them. Society encourages good to be crushed, and people live on the “rot and decay” of our world.