London Flashcards
Suggests that the control over the city by the upper class is unrivalled
‘I wander thro’ each charter’d street/Near where the charter’d Thames does flow’
Suggests that nobody can escape from the power of the upper class and the gloom of the city
- ‘In every cry of every Man/ In every Infant’s cry of fear’
- Repetition of ‘every’ in second stanza.
- The young nor the old can escape from it
Suggests the extent of influence is very deep
- ‘The mind-forg’d manacles I hear’
- Suggests that the control is of a mental kind and thus is hard to overcome
Suggests that organised religion is becoming corrupt and not helping the people
- ‘Every black’ning Church appalls;’
- may also be referring to the pollution
- Blake was an English Dissenter, did not like the fact the state influenced the church.
Suggests that the Monarchy and those in power are responsible for the state of the people.
- ‘Runs in blood down palace walls’
- walls could also show how the upper class are sheltered from all this
Suggests that the people no longer have any hope
‘Marks of weakness, marks of woe’
Suggests that London corrupts everything
- ‘How the youthful Harlot’s curse/Blasts the new born Infant’s tear’
- youth has connotations of purity
- shows a lack of care towards newborns suggesting that people lack any sort of humanity
Suggests that London has a cursed nature and will always ensure that everything ends in misery
- ‘blights with plagues the Marriage hearse’
- plagues may refer to actual diseases spread in London
- Juxtaposition of ‘Marriage hearse’ suggests that London can turn marriage which is seen as a new life into a deathly event, reflecting the extent to which London can corrupt things
(CONTEXT) What were William Blakes views on organised religion (eg. C of E)?
He disliked it but respected the Bible
(CONTEXT) What were William Blakes views on the people with power?
Disliked them, wrote about rebelling against their misuse of power and class
Which two collections of poetry by William Blake were companions to each other?
Songs of Innocence
Songs of Experience
What did Songs of Experience discuss?
Suggests the world has been corrupted by humans
Criticised the distance between those with power and those suffering in an inescapable cycle
Who did William Blake blame for the endless suffering of the lower classes?
The people in power who misused their power to keep things this way
