Read the following poem carefully before answering the question.
The Chimney Sweeper (1789)
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.
There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb’s back, was shaved: so I said
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head’s bare
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun.
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy,
He’d have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the speaker’s persona and the author's thematic perspective in the final stanza?
- AThe speaker is identical to the author, who uses the child’s voice to directly comfort readers and promote a traditional religious moral.
- BThe speaker's submissive attitude represents the author’s own belief that unquestioning obedience to authority is the only path to spiritual salvation.
- The speaker’s naive optimism highlights the author’s biting irony, exposing the tragedy of a child who accepts institutional exploitation as a moral duty.Answer
- DThe speaker's voice is entirely straightforward, conveying a literal, comforting message that performing labor diligently prevents physical suffering.
- EThe speaker undergoes a dramatic transformation, shifting from a sorrowful, mourning child to an authoritative, stern preacher who warns the other boys.