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Creator:
Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827
Title:
The Chimney Sweeper (Plate 10)
Additional Title(s):
Verso: Spring (Plate 11)
Part Of:

Collective Title: Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Copy F

Date:
1789
Materials & Techniques:
Relief etching printed in green ink, with hand coloring in watercolor on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 7 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches (18.4 x 12.1 cm), Plate: 4 1/2 x 2 7/8 inches (11.4 x 7.3 cm), Plate: 4 1/2 x 2 7/8 inches (11.4 x 7.3 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in graphite, upper center: "7"

Lettered inside image: "The Chimney Sweeper | 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. | Theres little Tom Dacre who cried when his head | That curl'd like a lambs back, was shav'd, 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 lock'd up in coffins of black, | And by came an Angel who had a bright key | And he open'd 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. | Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm. | So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm."; Lettered on verso, inside image: "Spring | Sound the Flute! | Now it's mute. | Birds delight | Day and Night. | Nightingale, | In the dale | Lark in Sky | Merrily | Merrily Merrily to welcome in the (Year | Little Boy | Full of joy. | Little"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1978.43.1552
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
branches | children | grazing | hills | historical subject | infant | leaf | sheep | sitting | text | vine | women
Access:
Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:2488
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William Blake (Tate Britain, 2000-11-02 - 2001-02-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Human Form Divine - William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-04-02 - 1997-07-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

The Creative Printmaker (Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art, 1986-03-05 - 1986-04-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Creative Printmaker (Yale Center for British Art, 1985-07-09 - 1985-09-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake - His Art & Times (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1982-12-03 - 1983-02-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake - His Art & Times (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-09-15 - 1982-11-14) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]


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