The Chimney-Sweeper
William Blake
1757 to 1827
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
When my mother died I was very young,
From Songs of Innocence
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind:
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!—
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.