Question

The poet protests against child labor and condemns the harm done to children exploited in this practice. Yet in lines 23-24, the child narrator writes that "Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm / So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm." This is an ironic expression of the narrator’s __________. disagreement with the poet opinion that life is fair idea that antidote to harm is duty. childlike trust

Answer 1

Childlike trust.

Step-by-step explanation:

The poem "Chimney Sweeper" written by William Blake is one of the poems in his "Songs of Experience", a collection of poems. This poem details the lives and experiences of children born in poverty, working as chimney sweepers and finding contention in themselves.

Personally, the poet protests the societal issues like child labor and poverty prevalent in the society, but the narrator of the poem seems to find happiness in himself. The child narrator writes that even through all the pain and suffering that Tom endured working as a chimney sweeper, he "was happy and warm". This is the childlike innocence, trust that everything will be alright if they do their duty.

Thus, this claim by the child narrator is an ironic expression of his childlike trust, the blind faith/ belief that everything will get better and well for them.