Analysis of the Chimney Sweeper
...he parents were secure in believing that he could handle whatever experience they had thrust upon him. Clearly, when experience impacts an innocent life, the results can be very jarring and unpleasant for the immature individual. Maybe the parents chose not to look more deeply and went on believing that things were fine; maybe the opposite is true and they truly were not alerted in the least. Either way, it is unfair to the young boy to lead such a life of hardships and unhappiness, even though such a life was more common in the time of the poem than it is in our society today. All fault cannot lie with the parents, however. Their son could have spoken up and told them of his feelings. He could have shown a bit of the internal misery he was feeling, rather than seeming content and satisfied with matters. In the poem, the situation is clearly at am impasse. The parents are not noting that things are awry and go about their lives feeling secure, and the boy continues on seeming fulfilled in life with his parents who do not notice that the opposite is true, and does not speak up himself to let them know the truth. It is only to a stranger who stumbles upon him, blackened and dirty from his job as a chimney sweeper against a background of pure white, that he admits his true situation. Overall ñLondonî is a very pessimistic poem that expresses no solutions to the issues mentioned within each line. The continual bombardment of horrific thoughts, ideas, and the even more frightful reality of late seventeenth century London makes for a disturbingly dark poem. By its conclusion, this nightmarish impression of darkness is heavily imbued within the thoughts of the reader. Perhaps just as William Blake would have intended, to truly convey the horror and injustice that was London. John Donne Holly Sonnet X Analysis Death, commonly viewed as an all-powerful force against life, is otherwise described in John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10. As found in any English Sonnet, there is a rhyme scheme and a standard meter. Although the standard meter is iambic pentameter, as in most English Sonnets, the rhyme scheme differs a little from the usual, consisting of ABBA ABBA CDDC AE. Sonnets convey various thoughts and feelings to the reader through the different moods set by the author. In this case the speaker having to confront Death and defeat it, sets the mood. Throughout existence, there have been many theories regarding exactly what role Death plays in the lives of those who experience it. Some think Death is the ultimate controller of all living things, while others believe it is nothing more than the act of dying once your time has come. Donne, on the other hand, has his own philosophy. The entire Sonnet, Donne speaks directly to Death. He personifies what to man has always been a spirit and has never been touched, seen or furthermore killed. He gives Death life, and therefore makes it mortal, exposing it to pain, torment and eventually defeat. In lines one and two Donne says “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee, Mighty and dreadful thou art not so.” By referring to Death as a person, he makes it easier for the reader to bring Death down to a level of a weakness and venerability, allowing us to examine it to see what Death really is. Humans have always been slaves to Death, fearing it, running from it, and trying to prevent it. In line nine, the speaker goes against that to say that Death is a slave to fate, chance and us. When Death becomes a slave it is because it will benefit from who will ...