London

Question 1

form

Answer 1

• dramatic monologue
• first person
• can only observe

Question 2

finish the quote : ‘charter’d…

Answer 2

…street’

Question 3

finish the quote : ‘charter’d…

Answer 3

Thames does flow’

Question 4

‘charter’d’

Answer 4

• repetition
• makes increasing amount of control seem inescapable
• it covers both land - ‘street’ and water - ‘Thames’

Question 5

finish the quote: ‘every..

Answer 5

…cry of every man’
…Infant’s cry of fear’
…voice, in every ban’

Question 6

‘every…’

Answer 6

• repetition
• universal misery
• emphasises the misery of ALL of the Londoners

Question 7

topic of the third stanza

Answer 7

• Blake blames the church and the monarchy
• blaming the state - rejects authority

Question 8

structure

Answer 8

• 4 stanzas
• four lines
• regular structure

Question 9

topic of the first stanza

Answer 9

• suffering - ‘weakness’

Question 10

final line

Answer 10

• ‘And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse’
• curse

Question 11

cyclical

Answer 11

• starts and ends with suffering
• poet is implementing a cyclical structure

Question 12

rhyme scheme

Answer 12

• strong alternate rhyme - ABAB
• reflective of relentless misery
• 4x de-DUM - mimics walking - iambic tetrameter - seven syllables instead of eight on lines 4,9,10,11,12,14 and 15 - represents how control can lead to weakness

Question 13

finish the quote: ‘the mind forg’d mannacles…

Answer 13

…I hear’

Question 14

‘the mind forg’d mannacles I hear’

Answer 14

• the control is mental and therefore total

Question 15

finish the quote: ‘marks of weakness…

Answer 15

..marks of woe’

Question 16

‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’

Answer 16

• strong negative image - people are made weak and sad by living in London
• changing nature of London - Blake left London for a few years

Question 17

imagery in first quatrain

Answer 17

• visual imagery
• ‘charter’d street’
• ‘every face I meet’
• ‘marks’

Question 18

imagery in second quatrain

Answer 18

• aural imagery
• shows how it is harder to escape noises than sights
• evidence of London’s control is all around
• ‘cry’
  -‘voice’
• ‘ban’
• ‘hear’

Question 19

finish the quote: ‘runs in blood…

Answer 19

..down palace walls’

Question 20

‘runs in blood down palace walls’

Answer 20

• image suggests that the monarchy is responsible for the negative impact it is having on its people

Question 21

finish the quote: ‘marriage..

Answer 21

…hearse’

Question 22

‘marriage hearse’

Answer 22

• juxtaposition
• ‘marriage’ -> new life
• ‘hearse’ -> death
• suggests how London can destroy even the most pure thing

Question 23

finish the quote: ‘blasts the new..

Answer 23

..born infant’s tear’

Question 24

‘blasts the new born infant’s tear’

Answer 24

• image suggests how London’s corruption is reaching newborns
• inevitable and inescapable

Question 25

finish the quote: ‘blights..

Answer 25

…with plagues’

Question 26

‘blights with plagues’

Answer 26

• by suggesting that London is like a disease or an illness -> Blake suggests that it will corrupt many people and is incurable

Question 27

soundscape

Answer 27

• ‘cry’
• ‘curse’
• ‘sigh’
• what he hears as he wonders through london
• all have negative connotations

Question 28

imagery

Answer 28

• semantic field of suffering

Question 29

title - ‘London’

Answer 29

• establishes poem’s topic
• declarative and unadorned with description and opinion
• suggesting how it will depict London “as it is”

Question 30

‘charter’d’

Answer 30

• dual meaning
• referring to the amount of trade occurring
• political and economic control - a document that expresses ownership of the land

Question 31

‘charter’d Thames’

Answer 31

• Blake mocks the economic control of the Industrial Revolution
• the Thames, nature, is not something that can be controlled

Question 32

finish the quote: ‘every black’ning..

Answer 32

..church appalls’

Question 33

‘every black’ning church appalls’

Answer 33

• ‘black’ning’ - walls are turning black - corruption
• ‘appalls’ - shock and disgust -> turn pale

Question 34

capitalisation of ‘Man’, ‘Infant’, ‘Chimney-sweeper’, ‘Church’ and ‘Soldier

Answer 34

• entities of people
• against ‘Palace’
• unhappy
• potential for revolution

Question 35

finish the quote: ‘youthful…

Answer 35

…Harlot’s curse’

Question 36

‘youthful Harlot’s curse’

Answer 36

• Harlot
• a prostitute
• juxtaposition between purity and sordidness
• highlights London can corrupt everything

Question 37

mood and tone

Answer 37

• a sense of inevitability pervades throughout the poem -> shown in repetition - ‘cry’ ‘mark’ ‘every’
• critical - persona criticises many aspects of London life -> such as ‘black’ning church’ -> negative impact it has on others