London

• William Blake

  • born 1757 in London
  • he is the I in the poem
  • poet, painter, printmaker
  • respected the Bible but disliked organised religion such as the Church of England
  • 1800 moved away from London (returned 1804)
  • died 1827
• context 


  London

  • comes from 'songs of experience' collection - which portrayed the corrupt world

  Industrial revolution

  • Blake hated
  • before London's population was 700000, after 3 million
  • 1760's
  • machines replaced humans
  • conditions in factories = terrible, child labour = long hours - had to clean machines as they were small enough
  • air pollution from factories
• a critique of those in power - exposes aristocrats by those who suffer from their cruelty

  imagery - suffering, powerless, revolution
• structures

  • ABAB rhyme scheme - strict - shows the control those in power have over the poor
  • quatrains - show structure - show society's structure
  • repetitive structure - restrictive - shows how London is controlled - poor are being exploited and then neglected by the rich
  • repetition - 'charted', 'every', 'mark'
  • cyclical structure - stanza 1, 2, 4 - focus on those who suffer - shows how suffering is inescapable
  • most poem = iambic pentameter - repetitive but some lines contain 7 syllables - 'marks of weakness, marks of woe' - describing the weakness and the syllables are weak (reflects the message)
• 'hapless soldiers sigh run in blood down palace walls'


  's' - sibilance

  'palace walls' - monarchy = power - links to the violent French revolution

  'blood' - sinister, violent imagery

  exploited soldiers working for the palace and monarchy - therefore the monarchy are accountable
• 'youthful harlots curse blasts the new-born infants'


  'harlots' - prostitutes - 'curse' - swear - the prostitutes swear and removes the innocence from the babies

  'blasts' - violent imagery - shows impact on the poor baby

  'infant' - innocence, youth, purity - taken away by prostitutes
• 'marriage hearse'


  oxymoron

  happiness of marriage contrasts the sadness of death

  what Blake loved about London has died due to the corrupt aristocrats

  born to die - no hope, happiness, joy
• 'charted streets... charted Thames'


  'charted' - organised - enforced by monarch

  'streets' - the streets are owned by the rich

  'Thames' - river - river is owned by someone - juxtaposition of man and nature - the river isn't free like the people - the river has been polluted so much its more humane then natural
• 'In every cry of every many, in every infants cry of fear, in every voice, in every ban'


  'in every' - repeated - emphasise the general public - people are trapped - mentally physically

  'cry of every man' - general population has no power

  'infants cry of fear' - children are scared, 'cry' is repeated to show how it effects the young and old

  ''ban' - church announcement

  all this leads to people suffering - the cause is the people in power
• mind-forged manacles


  alliteration

  'mind-forged' - created in the mind - forged links to the industrial revolution

  'manacles' - hains, restrictions, criminals

  they are mentally being held back