London - William Blake

• William Blake - Socialist, supported a more equal society. He lived at the start of the Industrial revolution and opposed it.
• 'I wander through each chartered street' - chartered refers to the order and structure, the streets are trapped and constrained.
• 'And mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe.' - Blake sees the poverty in everyone's face. 'mark' represents a permanent brand that you can't remove (idea of poverty that you can't escape)
• 'In every cry of every man' - the whole of humanity is crying out against capitalism, they are infuriated by it.
• 'In every voice, in every ban' - people are restricted, the poor don't have a voice
• 'The mind-forged manacles I hear' - the poor are slaves to their own mind and slaves to the upper class. Manacles = chains = slaves
• 'How the chimney-sweeper's cry' - children are crying from physical pain. No one is listening to their cries or want's to help.
• 'Every black'ning church appalls' - Churches have gone into darkness. Churches are corrupt and are not charitable. Blake was an athiest
• 'And the hapless soldier's sigh' - Soldiers are victims of monarchy and government.