london

• London

  Written by William Blake in 1792
• Context

  Wrote two books of poems; songs of innocence and songs of experience, London is the only poem which doesn't have a partner poem and is featured in songs of experience suggesting there is nothing pure about it. Blake was against churches as he believed that they didn't fulfil their moral duties and didn't like how the lower classes were treated and how the upper class abused their power.
• Form

  Written in a four line stanza: a quatrain.

  Regular rhyme scheme; ABAB

  Form is like a Ballard written for children as a protest/ political message and writes it in this easyterm-6 form that so many people will remember it.
• Themes

  Power of humans

  Loss and Absence

  Negative emotions - Anger

  Individual experiences
• I wander thro' each charter'd street'


  The streets have been mapped, which should be perceived as helpful but Blake uses it to complain about the expansion of cities; urbanisation and the destruction of natural 'charter'd Thames'. He contrasts 'I wander' with the idea that we have no freedom because everything is systematic.
• The mind-forg'd manacles I hear'

  The use of the noun manacles links to ideas of imprisonment that are displayed throughout the poem. - Oppression. Our own minds have put us in a jail, as we have taken to the idea of social classes and this construct is something we have done to ourselves. The noun 'forg'd' is to display that the belief in social hierarchy is fake. There is also a use of alliteration here which is to help us remember the poem as Blake intended for it to be a political stance.
• Every blackning Church appals'

  Here Blake attacks institutions within society. There are two meanings to this; literal which is where coal from factories and physically turning these black from soot. However the non-literal interpretation of this is that it is a political phrase as the church should be doing something about it as they should be helping the less fortunate which is their moral duty and Jesus' teachings. Blake argues the church is part of the establishment and there is so many of them 'every', they are just owned by the rich. The verb 'appalls' suggests that the church should be shocked from all these children dying young and doesn't try to change it for the better, attacks the institution for not doing its job.
• Runs in blood down Palace walls'

  Might be a reference to the French Revolution sounds like he thinks ordinary people suffer while those in the Palace are protected behind walls. The metaphor here is to suggest that the same thing that happened in France will happen in London and that whilst soldiers are out fighting and protecting against the monarchy and that the blood of the soldiers will be on the hands of the rich who are protected behind institutions.
• And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse'

  All marriage will end in death. Blake now focuses on patriarchy within London rather than physical institutions. William Blake himself is not attacking marriage as he married an illiterate wife, taught her to read and allowed for her to be an equal partner in his engraving business which shows views which were far ahead of his time and that he was a feminist. He isn't blaming marriage but men as they are cheating on wives and then having children with their wives leading to them and their babies getting diseases where they would not be able to live normal lives. He blames the institution for allowing women and 'harlots' to have to make money through the means of sex. He blames men for being corrupt as they cheat and break down the marital vows and focuses on physical affects.
• Key quote:

  "I wander thro each charter'd street,

  Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,"


  The speaker wanders aimlessly through London's streets, suggesting a feeling of melancholy and a lack of purpose. "Charter'd" implies order imposed on nature and society.
• Key quote:

  "And mark in every face I meet

  Marks of weakness, marks of woe."

  The speaker observes misery and despair on every person's face, emphasised by the use of alliteration, suggesting the widespread, permanent impact of London's problems.
• Key quote:

  "In every cry of every man,

  In every infant's cry of fear,"


  The use of repetition suggests the suffering is universal, affecting even innocent infants, eliciting readers' sympathy — as if all are destined for misery.
• Key quote:

  "The mind-forg'd manacles I hear:"

  Blake suggests that people are socially and emotionally shackled by the metaphor of "mind-forg'd manacles", representing their repression and imprisonment.
• Key quote:

  "How the chimney-sweeper's cry

  Every black'ning church appalls,"


  The church, meant to care for the poor such as chimney sweeps, is instead appalled by their presence, exposing its hypocrisy and tarnished reputation.
• Key quote:

  "And the hapless soldier's sigh

  Runs in blood down palace walls."


  Blake offers a social and political critique of wars waged by the monarchy and elite and the effect of this violence, with the emotive description of "runs in blood" conveying the impact on innocent people.
• Key quote:

  "How the youthful harlot's curse

  Blasts the new-born infant's tear,"


  Blake's description of a young prostitute cursing her newborn offers a stark contrast between innocence and brutality, and implies the moral decay of society.
• Key quote:

  "And blights with plagues the marriage hearse."


  The oxymoron of "Marriage hearse" and the diction associated with disease ("blights" and "plague") suggests the destruction of marriage, a pillar of society.
• Key quote:

  "midnight streets"


  Blake's reference to prostitution highlights the social issues and moral corruption present in London at the time that the poem was written.