London Flashcards
mind ____‘_ ma______
mind forg’d manacles
alliteration
i _______ thro’ each _______‘_ street/ ____ where the ______‘_ ______ does ____
i wander thro’ each charter’d street/ near where the charter’d thames does flow
in _____ ___ of every ___/ in every ________ ___ of fear
in every cry of every man/ in every infants cry of fear
what does william blake try to show in ‘London’
points out the cruelty and injustice occurring in the society,
criticises the church and the british monarchy
Title
-Would expect to be patriotic
-London was the richest city in the world
“Near where the chartered Thames does flow”
-Opens poem criticizing the lack of freedom
-“chartered” = organised/marked on a map
-“chartered Thames” = shows the greed of those in power bc you can’t charter a river
“Marks of weakness, marks of woe”
-“mark” = idea that is permanent/marked on a map
-Part of repeated imagery of sadness
“In every cry of every man,
In every infant’s cry of fear,
“In every voice, in every ban”
-Repetition of “every”= all though London, no discrimination (unlike rich/poor divide)
-“infant’s cry” = children are born unhappy
-Anaphora shows the horror and the suffocating nature of the city
-“voice”/”cry” = sensory poem focused on sounds
“…mind-forged manacles I hear
-“hear” = so powerful overrides the other senses
-“mind-forged” = not only blaming higher powers (see 3rd stanza) but regular people. also a metaphor to show the trapped feeling and helplessness
“…chimney-sweepers cry”
-Emotive imagery of child labour
-Used by the church = shows hypocrisy bc shoul care for families not the buildings
“…black’ning church…”
-“black’ning” = metaphor for the immoral nature (soot)
-“church” = hugely wealthy but helps no one
“…hapless soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down palace walls”
-“soldier’s” = fight for the good of the empire, die for the greed of those in power.
-“blood down palace walls” = the deaths are on the shoulders of those in power (government, monarchy, church)
“…youthful harlot’s curse
Blasts the newborn infant’s tear”
-“youthful harlot’s” = child prostitution
-“newborn” = already destined for prostitution
“…blights with plagues the marriage hearse”
-“plagues” = STIs (link to harlots)
-“plagues the marriage” = marriage links to purity but this is harmed by STIs - the cycle of misery continues
-“marriage hearse” = juxtaposition: people are dying young, even the best times are a ‘death sentence’.
Context
-Blake was anti religion
-Industrial revolution meant that Britain was the wealthiest country in the world.
-Rich/poor divide was huge
