"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, and in soot I sleep." The Chimney Sweeper is a short poem by William Blake that was originally published in 1789 within Songs on Innocence (1789), a work that was later combined with Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). This was due to Blake writing Songs of Innocence as a contrary to the Songs of Experience. This poem is a reflection on the dark background of child labor that was prominent in England in the late 18th and 19th centuries, where poor and malnourished children were often used for tedious jobs, such as chimney sweeping. William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts.