London Flashcards
What is the form of the poem?
London is written in quatrains (4 line stanzas).
It has a regular ABAB rhyme scheme.
The poem is a political protest so Blake writes it in such a way that even children can remember it.
“I wander thro’ each charter’d street”
One meaning of “charter’d is that the streets are mapped. Blake argues that this urbanisation is destroying what was once natural.
An alternate meaning to “charter’d” is that everything is owned. Streets make people poorer.
“I wander” contrasts the urbanisation.
“The mind-forg’d manacles I hear”
“Manacles” presents imagery of imprisonment. Blake argues we are controlled by our minds.
“Every blackning Church appalls”
Blake is arguing that the Church should stop this blackening by the soot, and look after the people of London.
Blake also argues that the Church has lost its way and is now a part of the establishment.
“Appalls” suggests that the Church should be appalled but isn’t.
“Runs in blood down Palace walls”
Suggests that events such as the French Revolution are likely to happen in England and therefore the soldiers will die defending the nobility.
“And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse”
Blake believes in equality for women. He is criticising the patriarchal society of his era.
His attack on the class system has now turned to the common men, who exploit young prostitutes on the streets, marring their marriages.
