London Flashcards
Who is London written by?
William Blake
Sonnet 43:
What context do you know about William Blake?
-he rejected established religion
[one of the main ones was
the failure of the established
church to help children
forced to work]
-Blake lived and worked in London
What is London about?
Its about the corruption and the power of the church in london
List the 8 quotes for London…
‘I wander thro each charter’d street’
‘Charter’d Thames does flow’
‘Marks of weakness, marks of woe’
‘In every’ ‘In every’ ‘In every’
‘mind forg’d manacles’
‘cry’ x2, ‘voice’, ‘sigh’
‘youthful harlot’s curse’
‘plagues’
HEAR
London:
What does this quote show….
‘I wander thro each charter’d street’
The verb ‘wander’ reminds us of the use of ‘flaneur’ and celebrates freedom but that is quickly contrasted by the adjective ‘charter’d’ where it shows that Blake is powerless towards change against the strict church
London:
What does this quote show….
‘Charter’d Thames does flow’
The anaphora between charter’d and flow shows how even the most innocent of things in London is not free to do its thing: ‘flow’
London:
What does this quote show….
‘Marks of weakness, marks of woe’
The syntactic parallelism possibly reflects that these society constraints are permanent due to the rigid structure of this line
London:
What does this quote show….
‘In every’ ‘In every’ ‘In every’
The repetition of ‘In every’ portrays the idea that there is no escape or relief from this blackening city of corruption
London:
What does this quote show….
‘mind forg’d manacles’
The use of the noun ‘manacles’ referring to handcuffs, suggests that the individual opinions and thoughts are all trapped and unexpressed
London:
What does these quotes show….
‘cry’ x2, ‘voice’, ‘sigh’
These negative aural images further illustrate the suffering the people in London are going through due to their powerlessness
London:
What does this quote show….
‘youthful harlot’s curse’
The juxtaposition of the innocence of youth and the sordidness of prostitution reflects how youth are put in extreme conditions within the industrial revolution which is unacceptable yet the church is allowing it
London:
What does this quote show….
‘plagues’
The use of the noun ‘plagues’ forms an image in the poems reader of the uncontrollable levels of children work in industrial london
What inspiration did William Blake have for London?
French Revolution
- it inspired him as it was a model for how ordinary people could cease power so Blake alludes to the revolution in London
- industrial revolution caused many children to work and the church didnt help youth therefore Blake wrote the poem about this powerlessness
