London Flashcards
What is the speaker doing? Where and when?
The speaker is walking the streets of London at night.
What is the double meaning of “chartered”
- To map/to create a map of the streets
- Written permission granted by the sovereign or governing body allowing certain rights or privileges i.e. the streets are not free because they are controlled by those with power and money
Refer to lines 3 & 4. What do you understand the “marks” to be? Do you feel sympathy for these people? Explain.
- Perhaps literally lines on their faces, tears, dirt OR figuratively their expressions of despair/apathy
- Yes, we do feel sympathy/. These people seemed burdened/weighed down by life.
- The words “mark” (verb – to observe) and “marks” are repeated for emphasis. The alliteration of ‘w’ and the words “weakness” and “woe” further emphasise the suggestion of misery suggesting the sounds of
sobbing.
What words indicate restrictions in stanza 2? Suggest what these restrictions might be.
- “mind-forged manacles”
The “mind-forged manacles” suggest that the restrictions are in the mind – in each person’s mind – their preconceptions of the world and how the world works – the inability to think beyond the constraints of society’s norms.
In stanza 3 who does the speaker hold to account for the cruel conditions that the urban poor experience?
- The powers that be, religious and secular – the church and government represented by “Church” and “Palace”
- The accusation is that they are not concerned with the injustices in the lives of those in their charge (represented by child labour “the Chimney-sweep” and the “Soldier” used as cannon - fodder)
Explain both the literal and figurative conclusion of the poem.
- Literal = a young prostitute giving birth to an unwanted baby, probably resulting from her trade (if it is her baby) – and cursing its arrival and life in general
– And the baby’s cries being cursed instead of consoled; the images of disease implied in ‘blight’ and ‘blast’ could also imply syphilis which would cause a baby to be born blind and would be a cause of death. - Figurative = society’s demand for prostitutes, and exploitation of very young women for this purpose, is evidence of moral decay
– Seen in the birth of the unwanted baby and in how prostitution (men making use of prostitutes) is destroying the fabric of society as epitomised in the family (marriage = family values/ hearse = death).
One of the themes is of the loss and corruption of innocence. Discuss how the chimney sweep and the youthful harlot and infant symbolise this?
- They are all children who have not had a childhood that is innocent and carefree. The chimney-sweep and the harlot represent the exploitation of child labour, the young prostitute representing sexual exploitation as well.
- The infant’s birth symbolises the repetition of that cycle, being born unwanted and into deprived circumstances, its life destined to follow the path of the exploitation of children.
Comment critically on the effectiveness of the diction “Blasts” and “blights” in the last 2 lines.
- Alliteration of the plosive ‘b’ serves to emphasise these words “Blasts” suggests a sudden, very loud, unpleasant noise – that deafens/offends the ear – a sound you would wince away from (auditory imagery)
– Enhances the offensiveness of her ‘cursing’ and emphasises how dreadful her life is AS WELL AS emphasising that her life and the newborn child’s life are ‘cursed’ (deeply unhappy and in terrible circumstances, with no hope of reprieve) - ‘blights” is associated with disease (in plants…that will destroy your crop) and with something being ruined or spoiled or damaged – and links in with the word “plagues” to show how damaging this moral decay is on society as a whole.
Find examples of two of the following techniques and explain their effectiveness: repetition, anaphora, sibilance, metonymy, oxymoron.
Repetition:
- “charter’d” to emphasise how controlled and restricted and controlled people’s lives are cry- emphasises that all the people of London (from child to adult) seem to issue only sounds of misery.
- “mark”/ “marks” to emphasise the evidence of suffering on the people’s faces.
- “hear” to emphasise the sounds of suffering around him – a 3D effect (not just sights but sound too)
Anaphora:
- ‘in every…” to emphasise that suffering is all around, effecting everyone.
Sibilance:
- “hapless Soldier’s sigh” echoing the outbreath of a heavy sigh (almost onomatopoeic)
Metonymy:
- “Church” Christianity symbolised/represented by an aspect of it: the place of worship
-“Palace” Government is represented/symbolised by an aspect of it: the monarch’s
residence
Oxymoron:
- “Marriage hearse” marriage is associated with union, love and children (family) – with life, and life continuing…
A hearse is associated with death, grief and loss – with ending of life
This oxymoron captures just how the immorality of the time (men betraying their marriage vows with prostitutes, and child prostitutes at that) has destroyed the cornerstone of society: the family.
Examine the speaker’s role. What is his function in this narrative?
- To observe and judge.
- To offer a critique (or to raise awareness) on the ills of society based on his observations.
The poem consists of four quatrains and the third is an acrostic (the first letters of each line spell a word). How do we know that this is deliberate?
- The word spelled out is HEAR
- There is a lot of auditory imagery in the poem and the word “hear” is repeated frequently
- The speaker wants to be ‘heard’ on the issues of injustice (on the gap between rich and poor/powerful and powerless)
The meter is an iambic tetrameter. So there should be 8 syllables per line. Find the lines which are one syllable short. How does this weak foot (½ an iamb) support the meaning of the line?
They all address the suffering of the people – the disruption of the weak foot emphasises the poet’s distress as well as the suffering of the people as a result of injustice
Line 4:
– “Marks of weakness, marks of woe.” The line is unbalanced (4/3) suggesting that he is
thrown off balance and society is unbalanced (unjust)
Lines 9 – 12
– This whole stanza is devoted to the suffering of the people at the hands of the powers that be (spiritual and secular) – how their lives are not within their own control.
Lines 14 – 15
– Focussing on the cycle of poverty. The disruptive 14 syllables reflects the disruption in society, the disruption in the morality of society.
