The chimney sweeper | A little black thing among the snow

A little black thing among the snow

Language: English

Our translations: CAT FRE

A little black thing among the snow,
Crying 'weep 'weep in notes of woe!
Where are thy father and mother? say?
They are both gone up to the church to pray.

Because I was happy upon the hearth,
And smil'd among the winter's snow
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

And because I am happy & dance & sing
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King
Who make up a heaven of our misery.

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The chimney sweeper", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 7, first published 1794 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "The chimney sweeper", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, and orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "The chimney sweeper", 1914, published 1929 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The chimney sweeper", op. 74 no. 4, from Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by James Henry Baseden Butt (b. 1929), "The chimney sweeper", op. 60 no. 2, published 1980, from Five William Blake Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by John H. Corina (1928 - 2014), "The chimney sweeper", 1976, from From Songs of Innocence and Experience [sung text not yet checked]
by Norman Curtis (b. 1933), "The chimney sweeper", c1959 [ voice and piano ], from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 19 [sung text not yet checked]
by Don Freund (b. 1947), "The chimney sweeper", 1967 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "The chimney sweeper", op. 27a no. 7 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by Joan Littlejohn (b. 1937), "The chimney sweeper", 1967-70, first performed 1971 [ voice and piano ], from Blakes Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul, Part II : Songs of Experience, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by William James Mathias (1934 - 1992), "The chimney sweeper", op. 82 no. 8 (1979), published c1987, first performed 1979 [ mezzo-soprano, celesta, harp, piano, and strings ], from Songs of William Blake, no. 8, Oxford : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Oskar Morawetz (b. 1917), "The chimney sweeper", 1947, published 1961 [ medium voice and piano ], Toronto : Leeds Music - MCA Canada [sung text not yet checked]
by Elie Siegmeister (1909 - 1991), "The chimney sweeper ", 1932 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Marion Smith , "The chimney sweep", 1966, published c1967 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Four Songs on Texts by William Blake, no. 2, Ann Arbor : University Microfilms ; part of a dissertation [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 97