No 20 THE CHIMNEY SWEEP

1 Oh! sweep chimney, sweep! You maidens shake off sleep If you my cry can follow. I climb the chimney top, Without ladder without rope; Aye and there! aye and there! aye and there you shall hear me halloo! 2 Arise! maids, arise! Unseal and rub your eyes. Arise and do your duty. I summon yet again And do not me disdain, That my call—that my call—that my calling's poor and sooty. 3 Behold! here I stand! With brush and scrape in hand. As a soldier that stands on his sentry. I work for the better sort, And well they pay me for't. O I work, O I work, O I work for the best of gentry. 4 Oh! sweep chimney, sweep! The hours onward creep. As the lark I am alert, I Clear away, and take The smut that others make. O I clean, O I clean, O I clean what others dirty.