“The Chimney Sweeper: When my mother died I was very young” by William Blake (1789)

William Blake’s poem “The Chimney Sweeper: When my mother died I was very young” was published in the same collection of poetry as “The Little Boy Found”: Songs of Innocence. The innocence and purity of childhood mirror one another in both poems, though “The Chimney Sweeper” has a darker tone than “The Little Boy Found.” While in the latter, the child is saved by God and returned to his mother, the former hints at the terrors faced by young children employed as chimney sweeps in the 18th century. The innocent young chimney sweeps can seemingly only be set free through death by God, where they can attain peace in heaven. In both poems, God is the savior of the children.

“The Chimney Sweeper: A little black thing among the snow” by William Blake (1794)

This version of “The Chimney Sweeper” is a companion to the first poem listed here. While the version published in Songs of Innocence in 1789 portrays the innocence and purity of the children being maintained through death, the version in Songs of Experience takes a more critical approach towards society, the government, and religious institutions.