William Blake — The Chimney Sweeper Innocence

When my mother died I was very young And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair." And so he was quiet, & that very night As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack Were all of them locked up in coffins of black; And by came an Angel who had a bright key And he opened the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run And wash in a river and shine in the Sun Then naked & white, all their bags left behind They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy He'd have God for his father & never want joy And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark And got with our bags & our brushes to work Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm