Poetry · Chapter
II: Sweeping the Floor explained
A child reflects on the domestic chore of sweeping the floor, connecting it to a maternal story about God sweeping for a lost shilling.
What happens
A child reflects on the domestic chore of sweeping the floor, connecting it to a maternal story about God sweeping for a lost shilling. The child questions the origin of the shilling and the truth of the story, imagining what it would be like to be the shilling itself, willingly rolling out before God's broom.
Themes in this chapter
Childhood and Innocence
The child's simple chore and imaginative questioning of a maternal story highlight the innocence and wonder of childhood.
Spiritual Struggle and Doubt
The child's skepticism about the parson's story and the origin of the shilling introduces a subtle doubt about religious teachings.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The child narrator who sweeps the floor and contemplates the story of God sweeping for a shilling.
- God
Imagined as a sweeper looking for a lost shilling, blending divine presence with domestic imagery.
- The Child-Mother
The mother who tells the child that God goes sweeping while they sleep.
Key passages
“Sweep and sweep and sweep the floor, Sweep the dust, pick up the pin; Make it clean from fire to door, Clean for father to come in!”
The child diligently sweeps the floor, removing dust and debris, to make the home spotless for the father's return.
Opening lines establishing the chore and its purpose.
“Mother said that God goes sweeping, Looking, sweeping with a broom, All the time that we are sleeping, For a shilling in the room”
The mother tells the child that while they sleep, God sweeps the room searching for a lost shilling.
The maternal story that blends divine action with a mundane household task.
“Did he drop it out of glory, Walking far above the birds? Or did parson make the story For the thinking afterwards?”
The child wonders whether God dropped the shilling from heaven or if the parson invented the tale for deeper reflection.
The child's questioning of the story's origin and truth.
“If I were the swept-for shilling I would hearken through the gloom; Roll out fast, and fall down willing Right before the sweeping broom!”
If the child were the lost shilling, they would listen in the darkness and eagerly roll out to be found by God's broom.
The child's imaginative identification with the shilling, expressing a desire to be discovered by the divine.