London

• Who is 'London' written by?

  William Blake
• When was London published?

  1794
• What collection was 'London' part of?

  Songs of experience
• The speaker

  Wanders through the streets of London and comments on his observations
• The speaker sees despair in the faces of the people he meets and hears fear and repression in their voices
• The speaker openly criticizes the church, the monarchy and the government
• Blake blames these institutions for the treatment of the poor people
• The opening "I wander thro'": 'Shows the poem is structured as a journey'
• The repetition of "charter'd": 'Suggests London is owned and people have been robbed of their rights'
• In stanza two, the repetition of "every": 'Suggests the enormity of poverty from children through to adults'
• Final words – "blights with plagues": 'Suggests everything good is destroyed. "Plagues" implies decay and pestilence'
• Structure

  • Blake uses a lot of repetition which could imply the cycle of poverty and that there is no escape for the lower social classes
  • Blake begins the poem London by just observing the streets. However, as the poem progresses, it is evident he is angry about the institutions that should support the poor people such as the church, the monarchy and the government. The poem ends negatively with implications of death