London Flashcards
summary
William Blake
- spekaer himsle , ntoices how oppresed poepole in London have becoe chartered .
- htis is apaprenwt as there is all kind of people who are trpaped ins ybmoclic chains ‘midn forged maancles .
- speaker reders to child workers and soliders and connect them to insittuios like churhc and palce, both presented as dramatically drained .
- fianlly speka reflects pitifuls tae of strees idea , idea of porsititues bbies mariag detath .
key aspects of poem .
repetion o in first half of peom is a keu langaue techniur rmphssng the psekr’s intinal unhappines with london and th universal of oppreison ..
heacy rhtyhm pessimsitc videw .
verbs like ‘forged’‘blast are all forceful contributing to poe’s increignly vilent ton e.
setitng
eighteen entruy was devleoping rapidly under industrialiaiton hcih resulted in considerbal epovery and extremely poor living ocndiotns
-chidl labour comon place na dpoorer children i partciulr owkred long hours in dangerous enviroemnt s, blake outliens his concernb aout lodner;s
their lack of personal freeodm u unederscorign the wy cit was beig cotrole by charters eenr ivder
key theme oppression
blake sayte tht eeryone he ses is affected by ‘weakness’ and ‘woe’ selst some particul victism of oppreisons nd dres attention to thr im the poem ignighg otu chimenys weeprs and osldiers a individuals who can be sene pwoerless in speific conects . he strts adressing them with athe deficinite artile ‘the’ mke an indiviudla into an archetype . a
also comemnt on soilder iwht palace implicting hte intitiutions hat reprenet oppresion of these individuals .
context french revoltoino
about oppresion of poeple and porl esninh poert sn erlth , blake’s poem alludes blood runnign down palace walls implhhing that if the oppresion of soliders ocntnurs , he revolution could occur ine glnf . ted andbclk inf rench coulture symbolsie in france miliatary (red) and the churhc )black_ cuz of hte colour of thei runiforms.
key quoatations
mind forged maancles - noun ‘mind’ andverb’forged ‘ can in be inpreterpeted as controll The ‘manacles’ invoked ide of slavvery .
Its a metaphor conveys entrampltet in phscyolgical chains created nd maintained by ideas and ebelifs
quotes
repetion of ‘eery cry’ word eery hglights universal effec tof oppreison .
plosive alliteraded wors like ‘balsts’and ‘blights ‘ implies the ilence
‘youthful harlots curse’ the young porsittue’s curse is juxtaposed iwth abbay’s cry below suggestion the corrupption of innocence.
‘marriage hearse’ marriage happy event and next tothi oxymoron sugets old lodo was so good but now is destiend to be dstroyd .
strucutre
s1+2 - suffering og the people
s3 causs of suffering
s 4back to the usferign pope
starting and endign with those who are suffering highlghts cyclialc strucutre nd inescapalbe faye pf tjse i n the city also use of immmbic tetrmetre also does htis .
repetive strcytr shows hte reptiive overwhelimig uffering of the poeple in lodnon .
‘chartered’the repeito osblake expressig hsi frustation , ironic as humans are forcing their power on even somehting so natural , even river thames ‘chartered thames .
soliders sigh on blood down palace french revolutin happeunugn in england and monarchycaseo f soliders suffering as they wor for monrhy .
compare to chekcing out me hisotry
shows the awareness of the oprpeison of differnet oicl grous but this 18th century while hidtory one i comepory .
London uses reulr rhye shcme
while chekcing out hostory uses tw odiffernet layouts to presnet the features of different soicl groups .
