London Flashcards
Author
William Blake
Structure
The poem has four quatrains, with alternate lines rhyming. Repetition is the most striking formal feature of the poem,
and it serves to emphasize the prevalence of the horrors the speaker describes.
Context
Blake was disillusioned with authority and industrialisation, as ordinary people were controlled by landlords and institutions. In the
poem ‘London’, he is perhaps suggesting that such poor living conditions could inspire a revolution and change on the streets of his
own capital city. Although a religious man, Blake was critical of the Church of England because he felt that the established Church
was not doing enough to help the children of London, who were forced to work in dangerous and terrible conditions.
Youthful harlot’s curse
Blasts the new born infant’s teat
The placement of the adjective ‘youthful’ with the noun ‘harlot’ (meaning prostitute) is extremely emotive, as it is young women who are selling themselves, reflecting the truly poor living conditions. The noun ‘curse’ has connotations of permanence and ongoing destruction which offers little hope for the conditions of life. The dynamic verb ‘blasts’ is harsh and contrasts with the image of a ‘new born infant’. The quotation is saying that the conditions of life (such as prostitution) are creating a negative/sinful world that new lives are entering. The harlot here is representative of disease and infection.
In every cry of every man
In every infant’s cry of fear
The syntactic parallelism of ‘In every’ reflects the extent of the conditions in London from the perspective of the speaker. Just as the phrase is mirrored, as are the poor conditions of life. The nouns ‘man’ and ‘infant’ are juxtaposed to highlight how the conditions are affecting every one of all ages.
Black’ning Church appalls
The proper noun ‘Church’ should have connotations of purity and cleansing, however here it is almost oxymoronic along with the term ‘black’ning’. Blake is clearly disregarding the Church as an institution and is making it sound contaminated through the adjective ‘black’ning’.
Soldier’s sigh
The sibilance here reflects the ‘s’ sound, sounding particularly sadness. The noun ‘soldier’ connotes strength, power and sacrifice, but here, their enthusiasm and fight has been abandoned. The noun ‘sigh’ suggests very little hope, even for the most brave and strong.
blights with plagues the Marriage hearse’
The final line of the poem sums up Blake’s fears for the future: we are welcoming new life into an already destructive world. The metaphor of the ‘plague’ represents the negative conditions that are ongoing and suggest a
contaminated world. The oxymoron ‘Marriage hearse’ combines a new start with death – the new life entering the world is destined to fail, if authorities (such as the Church) do not make changes.
Marks of weakness, marks of woe
The syntactic parallelism ‘Marks of’ depicts the extent of the negative sights being witnessed by the speaker. The noun ‘mark’ has connotations of permanence and scarring, suggesting that the conditions are here to stay. The abstract nouns ‘weakness’ and ‘woe’ create a semantic field of sadness – linking to the overall tone of the poem.
