The Chimney Sweeper

The poem’s speaker is identified only by the work he does: the chimney sweeper. He briefly explains how he ended up doing that kind of work. His mother died when he was small. After the mother’s death, the child’s father “sold” him (Line 2) into his service as a chimney sweep. The emotional impact of that fact is enhanced by play on words—a device in which one word sounds like another, giving it layers of meaning and possibly providing a source of humor. The boy sold into indenture as a chimney sweeper now has to advertise his services by yelling out his profession in the streets, but he is too young to pronounce his sibilants (s and sh sounds) properly. So when he shouts the word sweep, he misses the first consonant so it comes out “’weep! ’weep! ’weep! ’weep!” (Line 3)—which sounds like a child crying. The pitiable mispronunciation also evokes the chirping of a small bird, which emphasizes the weakness and vulnerability of the producer of that sound.

In the second stanza, the speaker introduces another child in the same situation. Tom Dacre cries because someone forcibly shaved his head to make him more fit for chimney sweeping. Tom probably had light blond hair because the speaker describes it as “white” (Line 8).