English Lit - London

• in london by william blake the narrator of the poem describes a walk through the city of london
• The poem is from

  1794
• The poem is not about the london we think of today but the london of king george iii
• The narrator walks through the streets near the river thames

  1. Notices how everyone he sees looks sad and troubled

  2. Hears the cry of a man, the cry of a child

  3. Realizes that people are held captive mentally as well as physically
• The poem suggests that the suffering is caused by


  Those in power - the church, landowners, the monarchy and the government
• The poem comes from the collection of songs of experience which presents a harsh view of a world corrupted by humans
• William blake was born in 1757 in london where he lived for most of his life
• Blake was a poet, painter and printmaker who often wrote about rebelling against the misuse of power and class
• Charted

  Privately owned land in london between 1760 and 1820
• The repetition of the word 'charted'


  Reflects the forcing of human power and control onto something natural like the river thames
• Poem structure


  • Repetitive quadrains with an abab rhyme scheme
  • Reflects the relentless, repetitive and overwhelming suffering in the city
  • Stanzas 1 and 2 focus on the suffering people, stanza 3 explores the causes, final stanza returns to the suffering
  • Cyclical, repetitive structure highlights the inescapable fate of those in the city
• Meter


  • Mostly written in iambic tetrameter (8 syllables per line with alternating unstressed and stressed)
  • Reflects the inescapable life of the poor in london
  • Some lines have 7 syllables, weakening the line to reflect the weakness of the suffering
• Marks

  • First use means 'notice' in every face
  • Second use means 'signs of' weakness and woe
• The repetition of 'marks'

  Highlights the inescapable, repetitive suffering, but also reflects the poet's frustration at the changing nature of london
• Shortly after writing this poem, blake left london, albeit for just a few short years
• The 'hapless soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls'


  Suggests the unhappiness of the british soldier could lead to a similar uprising to the french revolution if its causes were ignored
• 'Marriage hearse'


  An oxymoron suggesting that what was so good (the london of old) is destined to be destroyed
• The poem criticizes the misuse of power by the monarchy, government, organized religion and landowners, leading to widespread suffering and despair
• ‘Runs in blood down the palace walls’
• ‘Each chartered street’

  symbolises how whole city is affected
• narrator describes a walk through the city of London
• Narrator says everywhere he goes the people he meets are affected by misery and despair
• Misery affecting people seems relentless and no one can escape it, including the young and innocent
• People in power seem to be behind the problems the poem is voicing and do nothing to help the situation
• ‘marks of weakness , marks of woe‘

  repetition of ‘marks’ emphasises how many there is and how many are affected

  • illness
  • poverty
  • despair
• ‘The mind forged monocles i hear’

  • metaphorical
  • people have no chance of saving themselves
• ‘In every voice, in every ban’

  • standing up for those who can’t voice for themselves
  • emphasises his frustration and empathy
• ‘The mind forged manacles I hear’

  • metaphorical
  • chains holding minds, people are trapped in every way even via thoughts and attitudes
• ‘New born infants tear’

  • Saying misery starts from when they’re born
  • how it’s affecting new born children
• Blake held quite radical social and political views for the time (1794) and believed social and racial equality and questioned church teachings
• ‘Blights with plagues’

  • powerful language of illness and disease
  • destruction is implied to hint at something uncontrollable and destined to affect society
• ABAB rhyme scheme is unbroken which mirrors the relentless misery of the city
• Regular rhythm could reflect his steps as he ’wanders’ the city
• Each chartered street’ / ‘Where the chartered Thames does flow’
• Rhetoric: Anaphora of ‘In every’ / ‘Blasts the new born infant’s tear’
• ‘The blackening church appals’ / ‘The hapless soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls’
• 1. Highlight the suffering of ordinary people and the plight of poverty

  2. The poem critiques how society is structured (social class); Blake believed in equality and was angry at the ‘ruling classes’ for abusing their power

  3. Too much power and control is unnatural; this poem is a critique of oppressive societies
• Narrator/speaker


  Describing a walk around London
• Narrator/speaker observes


  Sights and sounds of poverty
• Narrator/speaker observes


  Society is oppressive and controlled