E 314L Study Guide - Quiz Guide: The Chimney Sweeper, Chimney Sweep, Hollow Reed
Document Summary
11: while he wept with joy to hear. Blake sets the scene for his collection in this first poem. After enjoying the lyrics, the child tells the shepherd to write/in a book that all may read the songs he has created. So he sits down, makes a pen from the materials at hand, and begins to write my happy songs,/every child may joy to hear. The poet sees a child in the sky, upon a cloud. This child is both an embodiment of innocence, as he is young, and the inspiration behind poetry, as he charges the shepherd to play, sing, and write. That the child charges the shepherd to play the song specifically about a lamb indicates one of the major foci of blake"s work, the portrayal of jesus as the innocent, spotless lamb of christianity. Ostensibly, the intended audience for this collection is also innocent, as the poet writes,
