Advanced English 6
February 25
Choice Time
Finish your poetry analysis.
Turn it in to your class bin when
it is completed.
Read Oliver Twist chapters 813. Look for social themes,
and take notes on in your
journals (due Monday,
February 29).
Continue to explore London
via ArcGIS, and take notes in
your journal about what
Dickens would have seen,
heard, smelled, tasted, and
touched. Think about why he
would have written about the
topics he chose.
Add text evidence the social
issues board and vocabulary
to the Vivid Vocab. board.
Work on vocabulary activities
1 and 2 (due March 16 [A] and
March 17 [B]).
“The Chimney Sweeper” 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! 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 or Jack.
Were all of them lock'd up 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 & 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'd 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' the morning was cold, Tom was
happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not
fear harm.
A1: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Symbols
Images
 Line 12: coffins=death
 Line 8: white hair
 Line 6: lamb=innocence
 Line 11: picture the many sweepers
 Line 3: weep could mean sweep or not
being able to talk very well because he is
young or did not have much education
 Line 12: coffins are painted black
 Line 21: dark=death
 Line 18: rising on clouds; rising to Heaven
 Line 8: white hair=being clean from coal,
being innocent
 Lines 19-20: hear the angel talking
 Line 23: happy and warm=emotions, free
 Line 4: picture a dirty child
A1: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Figures of Speech
Tone and Theme
1. The tone is sad or depressed because the
child did not really have a choice to be a
sweeper or not. He was in poverty. The tone
turned joyful at the end because the boy
realized he would go to a happy place if he
did his duty. The tone is a child’s
perspective; he is innocent and ignorant. At
the end, the poem’s tone becomes joyful
and hopeful because Tom thinks things will
get better.
2. Blake wanted to change society’s
perspective of chimney sweepers, poor
people, child labor, orphans. He also
wanted people to see the downfalls of the
Indurtrial Revolution.
“The Chimney Sweeper” 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! 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 or Jack.
Were all of them lock'd up 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 & 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'd 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' the morning was cold, Tom was
happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not
fear harm.
A7: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Symbols
 Line 13: bright key=opening the
door to freedom
 Line 6: lamb=innocence
(chimney sweepers)
 Lines 15-16: running, playing,
washing=happiness, freedom,
new life, not industrialism
 Line 13: Angel=helper
 Line 12: coffin: “cage” of
chimney-sweeping; death
 Line 20: God as their Father:
parents they never had
 Line 3: weep=young age
 Line 23: happy and
warm=safety, happiness,
protection
Images
 Lines 15-16: playing
 Line 3: crying
 Line 19: Angel speaking
 Line 12: black coffins, soot
 Line 6: white hair, curly
hair
 Line 21: picture the
darkness
 Line 21: feel the cold
 Line 13: picture the bright
key
 Line 15: green plain
A7: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Figures of Speech
Tone and Theme
1) The chimney sweepers had a bad life
filled with sadness. The children dream of
a better life. The boys have hope that
warms them.
2) Blake wanted to show people problems in
society, such as child labor, absent labor
regulations, treatment of
children/orphans, and poverty. Blake
wants to change people’s perspectives
because of his emotional poem.
“The Chimney Sweeper” 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! 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 or Jack.
Were all of them lock'd up 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 & 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'd 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' the morning was cold, Tom was
happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not
fear harm.
B1: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Symbols
 Line 6: hair=lamb’s wool, symbolizes
innocent
Images
 Line 18: children rising on clouds
 Line 6: lamb=innocence
 Lines 15-16: children playing, laughing,
having fun, washing off “dirt”
 Line 14: coffins=death; Angel=helper
 Line 3: hear the child crying
 Line 20: God as their father=have parents
 Line 17: picture the children lying down and
leaving worries behind
 Line 2: tongue=ability to speak
 Line 13: key=freedom
 Line 17: bags=old life, chimney-sweeping
 Stanza 2: shaving head=letting go of
worries; old life with parents being gone
 Line 4: soot/dirt
 Stanza 2: picture the white hair being
shaved so that it doesn’t become black
from soot
 Line 12: black coffins
 Line 13: Angel being bright
B1: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Figures of Speech
Tone and Theme
1. The tone is sad at the beginning because
the word choice promotes darkness and
coldness. It is also angry in the first stanza
because the child is screaming because
he is taken from his father. Toward the end
of the poem, the children have hope
because the dream made them wish for a
happy afterlife.
2. Blake wanted to expose problems in
society, such as child laborers, a high
mortality rate, bad working conditions,
and poverty, so that society could
change.
“The Chimney Sweeper” 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! 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 or Jack.
Were all of them lock'd up 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 & 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'd 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' the morning was cold, Tom was
happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not
fear harm.
B7: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Symbols
Images
 Line 6: lamb=innocence
 Stanza 2: white hair
 Line 8: white hair=purity, innocence
 Line 12: picture the coffins being black
 Line 12: coffins of black=death, soot
 Stanzas 4-5: running, playing, being
happy
 Lines 13: Angel=hope, helper
 Line 14: doors=barrier, chimney sweep job
 Line 4: chimney sweeper=hard life, dirty
 Line 16: wash in the river=free from
chimney sweeping
 Lines 15-16: green grass, running, playing,
washing, being clean
 Line 13: Angel with bright key shining
B7: SIFT Poetry Analysis Strategy
Figures of Speech
Tone and Theme
1. Life is hard for chimney sweepers; the
children are sad and depressed. When
they dream, though, they become
happier. The children become hopeful
that life will be better in the future.
2. Blake wants society to change some
issues, such as child labor, treatment of
children/orphans, poverty, and
discrimination.
To Do Today:
Analyze
Victorian
poems
Have
choice time
SIFT Poetry Analysis
Now you will analyze a poem of your
choice. Use the color-coding key to
help you find figures of speech.
Fill in the SIFT organizer.
Be sure to put evidence from the
poem to support your answers.
You may use line numbers, as well as
quotes from the poem.
Color-Coding and
Labeling
Metaphor (a
surprising
comparison
between two unlike
things) -Red
Simile (a surprising
or unlikely
comparison using
“like” or “as”) -Blue
Personification
(giving human
qualities to anything
non-human) -Brown
Symbolism (the use
of object or action
that means
something more
than its literal
meaning) -Orange
Imagery
(descriptive
language that
appeals to the
senses) -Purple
Alliteration
(repetition of
beginning sounds in
a series of words) Green
Assonance (the
repetition of vowel
sounds in a series of
words) -Yellow
Onomatopoeia (a
word that sounds
like what it means) Pink