Question

Think about the first four lines of the poem. What is the narrator expressing in these lines?

Answer 1

The first stanza introduces the speaker, a young boy who has been forced by circumstances into the hazardous occupation of chimney sweeper.

Answer 2

In the first four lines of this poem, the narrator is telling us about his origins. He tells us that he was left an orphan by the death of his mother, and that his father cared little about him. He cared so little that he decided to sell him in order to become a chimney sweep. This stanza introduces the character and his sad circumstances, while also trying to obtain sympathy from the reader.