“The Chimney Sweeper” poems in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

Answer

Taylor Coleridge. These poetries are emotional and personal in nature, normally drawing on the life of the poet as well as on real life occurrence. This paper focuses on examining The Chimney Sweeper poems available in the Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence to establish how they meet the conversation poem qualifications. Additionally, an evaluation of the theme of illusion vs. reality in John Keats’ La Belle Dame Sans Merci is also completed.  

Chimney Sweeper

                The Two versions of The Chimney Sweeper, from the Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence, are considered as conversation poems. Notably, the reader can overhear the speaker’s conversation with a silent listener. In both poems, the reader is made aware of the story of a young chimney sweeper who grew from an innocent child living a life defined by childhood euphoria to become a mature individual living a life that shows a great contrast between the privileged people in the society and those considered as downtrodden. For instance, in the version available from the Songs of Innocence, the listener can establish that Tom Dacre, who is also the chimney sweeper, was born to a world of poverty, his father sold him when he was still young, and hence denied the chance to enjoy parental love or the joy that comes with childhood. Despite this, he still dreamt of having a better life. By listening to his story, the reader is made aware that Tom has a dream to enjoy his childhood, be clean and free. He also desires to have a father figure as shown in the statement, “And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, /He’d have God for his father & never want joy” (Blake Lines 19-20). Furthermore, the speaker’s story about his childhood is effective in providing a description that triggers a memory of his childhood experience, a common feature with conversation poems.

                The speaker in both versions of The Chimney Sweeper faces up to a tragic loss associated with an emotional problem. Notably, it is evident that as the speaker matures, he directly comes to terms with the social injustice and the exploitative working conditions currently defining his life. In the Songs of Experience, the speaker notes that, “They clothed me in the clothes of death, /And taught me to sing the notes of woe” (Blake Lines 7-8). In the Songs of Experience, “they” is further clarified to “God and his Priest and King” (Blake Line 11). In Songs of Innocence, Tom is seen facing up his tragic experience of social inequality that forms a basis of an emotions problem when he states that, “Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm,
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm” (Blake Lines 23-24).

                Looking at the poem’s ending, it can be derived that it ends where it began only with a different mood seen as a result of an intervening meditation. Notably, the last stanza from the Songs of Experience shows Tom’s evolution from that of an innocent child to a person who is more mature and able to construct a social structure highlighting injustice perpetrated by the people in power towards the powerless in the society (Blake Line 5).

John Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”

                In La Belle Dame Sans Merci, John Keats brings out the theme of illusion verses reality through the use of a dream. Notably in the poem, a knight narrates a story regarding how he is obsessed with a spirit who later abandons him. The spirit being addressed in this case is La Belle Dame sans Merci also referred to as “The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy.” This is depicted in the poems as, “I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful—a faery’s child, Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild” (Keats Lines 13-16). Notably, the lady in the knight’s story is an illusion despite the fact that he lingers in his memory of the lady to suggest a reality. The poem suggests that the knight plans to linger onto this memory until the time of his death. In the relationship created from an illusion, the knight’s love transforms into an obsession from enchantment. In this case, it is evident that the knight became a victim of his illusion of the beauty and love of the inexistent lady.

                The concept of “femme fatale” associates with the relationship between victimhood and power in the poem. Arguably, Keats gives the illusion of the beautiful woman a negative connotation since she eventually deprives the knight of his power to make his choice. Notably, Keats emasculates the knight by stripping him of his power and granting “femme fatale” with the ability to make the decision. In this case, gender imbalance is utilized to suggest that despite the knight physique and brains, he has no power against the beautiful woman. Notably, after the illusion is shattered and the truth is revealed, it is clear that the knight is unaware of the direction he wants to take. The knight loses his sense of hope and ends up in an ultimate depression (Keats Lines 45-46). The fact that the males have no power over the beautiful women is also reflected in the case where powerful men such as princes, kings and warriors have fallen victims despite their high status. This is reflected in poem as, “I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee in thrall!’” (Keats Lines 37-40). The poet utilizes the men to suggest the powerful delusion that even men of high statues can be victims to a woman’s beauty. Furthermore, this reinforces belle dame’s power through the creation of a hopeless situation. This suggests a reversing aspect depicting women as a superior gender, and hence Keats manages to reverse the stereotypically defined powers commonly associated with the male gender in society. Moreover, this is a picture portraying men at their weakest as they cling on a woman’s beauty without thinking about the outcome of their actions.

Conclusion

                Conclusively, conversation poems are not associated with a highly formulaic structure but still share several similarities. One of the features evident in The Chimney Sweeper includes the ability of the reader to listen to the speaker’s narration set for an unknown listener. In La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Keats uses illusion to suggest its devastating effects in reality when it comes to the balance of power and victimhood by portraying men as victims to a woman’s beauty leaving them with no option of making their own choices.