Blake - industrial REvolution :]

[vickee]

Any thought or idea involving Blake's songs in relation to the industrial revolution
HAve the obvious one such as chimneysweeper etc. But would be mega grateful for any help???
Thanx :]

[Virgil]

Why would the chimmeysweeper be part of the industrial revolution? Didn't they have chimmneys before? What year do you place the start of the industrial revolution?

[Charles Darnay]

Why would the chimmeysweeper be part of the industrial revolution? Didn't they have chimmneys before? What year do you place the start of the industrial revolution?

Personally I consider the Chiminey Sweeper a reflection on the Industrial Revolution not becasue he's a Chiminey Sweep but beasue Blake is capturing the plight of the innocent children - something that duirng the 19th century was being ignored by those who cared for nothing besides their own wealth.

[Virgil]

Personally I consider the Chiminey Sweeper a reflection on the Industrial Revolution not becasue he's a Chiminey Sweep but beasue Blake is capturing the plight of the innocent children - something that duirng the 19th century was being ignored by those who cared for nothing besides their own wealth.
Well, the chimmneyseep wasn't written in the 19th century. Child labor and the plight of children did not begin with the industrial revolution. You might say that the plight of children has been going on since the beginning of time.

[Charles Darnay]

Yes, but it became recognized as a problem during the romantic period.

[lauren.s.91]

from the many essays i have done on the industrial revolution i have found that the industrial revoulution began around 1750, what you have to remember is that blake is a Romantic Poet so he would have been sympathetic with the suffering of children and the chimneysweep has been made into a ,sort of, icon to represent the industrial revolution in his eyes.

[jaap]

vikee ofcource you could wright something about the fact that the time when blake lived was shiftly changing and rapidly improving, the people in genaral went from ''innocent'' to ''experienced'', i think you should look on it with a broader perspectief and look at his works as a whole.
maybe to compare his stuff you should look at percy shelly's works cause he is basicly doing the same

[mad_mc]

The Industrial Revolution was from roughly 1750-1850. There are a lot of poems that you can relate to it, but some of the connections are not blatantly obvious:

'Earth's Answer' (Songs of Experience' - "Break this heavy chain / That does freeze my bones around"
'Holy Thursday' (Experience)
'The Tyger' (Experience) - "What the hammer? what the chain? / In what furnace was thy brain?"
'London' (Experience)
'A Divine Image' (Experience) - "The human dress is forged iron / The human form, a fiery forge....etc"


Hope that helps!