The Chimney Sweeper

Yes, I do agree with the editors of the textbook that Blake's poetry had the power to enact social change by appealing to the imagination of the reader. In both versions of “The Chimney Sweeper,” Blake calls on his imagination to make the speaker of the poems realistic. As history shows, Blake did not live an impoverished life. Therefore, he had to use his imagination at least a little bit when writing about topics he had no personal experience in, such as being a young chimney sweeper. Chances are, not everyone reading Blake’s poetry was in a lower class, since they were literate. By appealing to his audience’s imagination, he was in turn appealing to their emotions, in turn calling for social change.

I think the editors included the Parliament transcript as a primary source document following “The Chimney Sweeper” to show us that what Blake was talking about was a very real horror for children back then. It is one thing to read a poem someone made up in his or her imagination with fictional characters. On the other hand, reading the actual dialogue from the Parliament between someone who was actually in the situations Blake described brought the situation to a completely new, tangible level. This affected my reading of Blake’s work by making it more emotional for me. After reading this primary document, I felt like I had a face to pair with a heart-tugging poem; a real story to compare to one that was imaginary.