3. THE CHIMANEY SWEEPER Class-XI (by William Blake)

 When my mother died I was very young,

And my father sold me while yet my tongue.
Could scarcely cry 'weep!' weep!' weep!',
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, 
That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd: so I said

"Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your head's bare
'You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'

And so he was quiet and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
Were all of them lock'd in coffins of black.

And by came an Angel who had a bright key, 
And he open'd the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind:
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He's have God for his father, and never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark, 
And got with our bags and our brushes to work. 
tho's the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty , they need not fear harm.

Summary: 

The speaker a - chimney sweeper here narrates his tale of misfortune. His mother died when he was child. His father sold him to an industrialist at a very tender age. So he was employed to sweep the chimneys where he passed a life of drudgery and hardships. He had to sleep in the soot . He and his friends used to be clean shaved  so that their hair might not catch the chimney's fire.
One of these chimney sweeping children, Tom dreamt of an Angel with a bright key opening the gates of the dongeous-- the workhouses in which the children had to work and live like prisoners. The Angel freed all the children. They became very happy. The Angel advised them to have faith in God which would always give them constant pleasure. Now they began to enjoy work as well as life.

Objective Questions:

1. Who composed the peom" The Chemney Sweeper"?
    Ans:- Williom Blake.

2.  The Chemney Sweeper' has been taken from?
    Ans: ' Songs of Innocence'

3. ' The Chemney Sweeper' deals with the plight of ?
    Ans:   The Chemney Sweeper

4. ......... has been pictured in the poem, ' The Chemney Sweeper'?
    Ans:  18 th century.

5. ' The Chemney Sweeper' is a fine example of Blake's:
    ans: Humanitarianism

6. In ' The Chemney Sweeper' ......... is the culprit and a target of the poet's attack.
Ans: Society

7. Who is the speaker in the poem, ' The Chemney Sweeper' ?
    Ans : A Chimney Sweeper