William Blake in all three of his poems is criticizing the time he lived in during Eighteenth-Century England. In his poem, “the Gates of Paradise”, Blake criticizes the most important topic during the era, religion. Calling the person who is accused of being God as his Satan. He wonders about how society can be so evil and how God allows this to happen. He is criticizing God himself and uses his surroundings as reasons for this criticism. In “London”, Blake points out these issues in society and reveals the life in the urban areas of England. Blake mentions crying of man and child which resembles terror no matter how old or how strong you are. In his last poem, ” The Chimney Sweeper”, Blake exposes the problems of child labor. Using imager of kids covered in black and wearing clothes of death. Then he relates these horrors done to these kids to how people use God to ignore the real sins and terror being done in society.
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I agree with all your points, you provided great evidence which made it easy to understand. However, when I read the poem “The Chimney Sweeper” I was confusing with the part that says ” They clothed me in the clothes of death”, but after reading your post I have a clear understanding of that line. You also mentioned sins which is an interesting way of how you connect it to explain your opinion on how William Blake think of his society.
18th century England was a time where there was not much ongoing support for the Church. His criticism greatly reflects the population of England at the time. It was also the time where a new religious movement came into play (the Methodist Church). In “London” and “The Chimney Sweeper,” we could only imagine what followers of this new movement were like. As you said, Blake is exposing the problems of society through these poems.