London - William Blake

• what is it about:

  • narrator describes a walk around London
  • everywhere he goes, the people he meets are affected by misery and despair
  • misery seems relentless. no one can escape it - not even young and innocent
  • people in power (church, monarchy, landowners) seem to be responsible and do nothing to help the people in need.
• form:

  • dramatic monologue - first-person narrator speaks passionately and personally about the suffering he sees.
  • ABAB rhyme scheme is unbroken and seems to echo the relentless misery of the city.
  • regular rhythm could reflect the sound of his feet as he trudges around
• structure:

  • the narrator presents relentless images of downtrodden, deprived people
  • stanza 1 and 2 focus on people he sees and hears
  • stanza 3 focus shifts on institutions he holds responsible
  • stanza 4 focuses back on people, even newborn babies are affected
• rhetoric:

  • uses rhetorical language to persuade the reader of his point of view
  • uses powerful, emotive words and images to reinforce the horror of the situation.
  • repetition is used to emphasise the number of people affected, shows a need for societal change
• sensory imagery:

  • depressing sights and sounds of the city
  • stanza 1 is about what he sees
  • stanza 2 is about what he hears
  • stanza 3 and 4 combine visual and aural
• contrasts:

  • used to show how everything is affected and nothing pure or innocent remains
• feelings and attitudes of the poem:

  • anger - emotive language and repetition show the narrator's anger at the situation. 'every blackening church' and 'palace walls', suggest he's especially angry at the people in power, who could do something to change but don't
  • hopelessness - 'mind-forged manacles' people themselves are also to blame - trapped by their own attitudes. appear hopeless because they are not able and/or willing to help themselves
• Context:

  • published in 1794
  • Blake was an English poet and artist - held radical social and political views
  • believed in social and racial equality and questioned Church teachings
  • Blake wrote 2 volumes of poetry which explored the state of the human soul.
  • 'Songs of Innocence' is positive poems about childhood, nature and love
  • 'Songs of Experience' (including 'London') is about how innocence is lost, and how society has been corrupted