London

• I wander through every chartered street, near where the chartered Thames does flow

  • the rich people own everything, including the streets and the river
  • foreshadows that the people may be controlled and possibly suffering
• In every cry of every man, In every infants cry of fear

  • repetition (anaphora) of cry shows that everyone shares the same feelings of upset
  • days may be repeating in a sort of 'depressing loop'
  • the people have no control
  • even babies are not happy
• Every black'ning church appals

  • people are losing their religion over the fact that they are so miserable that they believe not even god will save them
  • oxymoron as the church is meant to be a place where people seek comfort and consolation
• The mind-forged manacles I hear

  • trapped in their own minds as they are powerless and have nothing
  • feel imprisoned by themselves and their own lives
• London context and themes

  context

  • london used to be a dangerous place and even more dangerous to the poor
  • Blake wants to show that the under paid and under privileged people were suffering and had nothing

  themes

  • abuse of power leads to suffering
  • class inequality
  • conflict
  • lack of freedom
  • religion
• London structure

  • regular rhyme scheme (shows that the people of london lived their days on loop)
  • iambic pentameter (rhythm of the poem mimics heartbeat, rhythm is the same on all lines) (could represent walking through london)
  • stanza length (all the same length, repetitive similar to the lives of poor people which were all similar in suffering)