Analysis of 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.'


Scheme AABB XAXA CDCD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 010110101 10110111 111100101 1111110111 0111100101 01010101 11100111 011110111 00111100101 1111111100 01111101101 111010110100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 483
Words 102
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 122
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

30 sec read
681

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. more…

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