Anthology - London Flashcards
Poet:
William Blake
Context:
When the poem was written, revolutionary mobs were marching into the streets of Paris thus explaining Blake’s pro-revolutionary views.
Blake was a political radical and proposed a new social and ethical order - explaining the insults thrown at the monarchy in the poem.
Main Themes:
Corruption in society
Human condition
Horror
‘In every cry of every man, in every infant’s cry of fear, in every voice, in every ban’
Anaphoric repetition used to imply that nobody escapes the oppression from the hierarchy. ‘infants’ exaggerates this fact as even children can’t escape
‘Charter’d streets’
‘Charter’d Thames’
Implying that everything in society is owned by someone. ‘Charter’d Thames’ accentuates this fact because even something as natural and as powerful as the Thames is owned by someone from the hierarchy.
‘Mind-forg’d manacles’
Represents the self-inflicted oppression through preoccupation with money and materialism. Reflects Blake’s political views.
‘Runs in blood down the palace walls’
Blaming the monarchy for the deaths of many. Highlighting how people have been marginalised by the monarchy and also reflecting Blake’s want of a socialist order.
‘youthful Harlot’s curse/blasts the newborn infant’s cry of fear’
Accentuates the cycle of oppression. The noun ‘infants’ highlights that children are born into this ongoing cycle.
Structure:
Iambic tetrameter - appeals to emotions
Regular, monosyllabic rhyme scheme - Childlike, sombre tone
What poem can be linked to this one?
Living Space, The prelude
