London

• Written by William Blake
• Poet spent most of his life in London, claimed to see God and angels at his window - was regarded as a mad man. Poems offered insights into human nature and need for social justice
• Poem flows like normal speech - horror is normal in London
• Tight and restricted structure ( 4 stanzas with 4 lines each), regular rhyme scheme

  • represents how society restricts people and people live within the rules
• Example of ‘weakness’ and ‘woe’ - ‘Chimney sweep’

  Difficult and fatal job, represents all that is shocking and unacceptable in London
• ‘Mind forged manacles‘ - trapped and contained by own mind, constraints society places to conform to rules
• ‘black’ning church’ - religion is polluted by city life (smog and smoke)
• ‘Harlots curse’ - birth of children who will only experience pain and anguish
• First person narrative gives images more impact and makes us have more sympathy
• Repetition could imply the cycle of poverty and unhappiness
• Can link to :

  Living space (living condition)

  Hawk roosting, Ozymandias (power and control)
• London


  A poem by William Blake that describes his observations of the city of London and the suffering of the poor people who live there
• William Blake: 'I wander thro' each charter'd street,

  And mark in every face I meet

  Marks of weakness, marks of woe.'
• The image of 'mind-forg'd manacles' implies that the people are trapped emotionally in society and in their social class
• Blake is criticising the exploitation of children in London. Children were expected to do dangerous jobs to survive
• Soldiers are dying in pointless wars

  Blake is blaming the monarchy for the deaths of the soldiers as the metaphor of 'runs in blood' implies that the Monarchy is murdering the soldiers
• Plague


  Suggests that there is no cure for the level of suffering and the pain is like an infestation that is attacking London
• The repetition of 'every' implies the size of the problem because it impacts on children and adults. No-one can escape the poverty
• Blake is angry that the Church is not helping the poor people of London. By using the adjective 'blackening' this implies that the church is corrupt
• By using the adjective 'youthful', Blake is observing how young women/girls in London have to go to desperate lengths to survive. The word 'curse' could imply that they are punished because they are born into poverty and they are forever trapped