London

Question 1

London Stanza 1 - 2 key techniques and analysis

Answer 1

1. ‘I wander thro’ each charter’d street’ near the ‘Charter’d thames’

• Repetition of adjective ‘charter’d’ shows mankind’s control over nature
• First person perspective adds weight to the poem

2. ‘And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, Marks of woe’

• Reformulation of ‘Marks’ alludes to mental and physical damage, outlining effects of modern life
• Determiner ‘every’ creates sense of ubiquity, everyone carries these ‘marks’
• Imagery of physical ‘marks’ creates uncomfortable sense of ugliness

Question 2

London Stanza 2 - 2 key techniques and analysis

Answer 2

1. ‘The mind-forg’d manacles I hear’

• ‘Mind-forg’d manacles’ could be societally imposed restrictions, somewhat Marxist ideas
• ‘Mind-forg’d’ could also be Government view of ‘deserving poor’, those who chose to remain poor
• ‘I hear’, use of auditory imagery emphasises the power of these restrictions

2. ‘In every cry of every man’

• Repitition of ‘every’ to present universal problem of poverty
• Both Affects everyone in London (‘Every man’), and is the cause of all of societies problems (‘Every cry’)

Question 3

London Stanza 3 - 3 key techniques and analysis

Answer 3

1. ‘Every Black’ning church appalls’

• Colour imagery of ‘Black’ suggests corruption and evil, also links to chimney sweepers, soot is on them
• Blake argues that the Church ‘appalls’ and yet does nothing, all they make is false promises
• Use of ‘every’ suggests this is a problem with all organised religion, labels them as apathetic

2. ‘hapless soldiers sighs’

• ‘Sighs’, subtle form of rebellion - Soldier has very little power to change anything
• Reinforced by the sibilance throughout the line, creates a soft sound
• Could also be sound of death, reinforced by next line
• ‘hapless soldier’, critique of war and government

3. ‘Runs in blood down palace walls’

• Vivid imagery, places gory blame on government
• Use of synecdoche (Palace Walls) to blame the establishment as a whole
• Prior introduction of the ‘hapless soldier’ makes this more poignant, emphasises the human cost of government policy

Question 4

London Stanza 4 - 2 key techniques

Answer 4

1. ‘Blights with plagues the Marriage hearse’

• Sexual diseases make Marriage deadly, very morbid interpretation
• ‘Blight’ and ‘Plague’ create disgusting imagery

2. ‘The youthful harlots curse’

• Curse creates a sense of witchcraft, perhaps demonising sex workers
• However, ‘youthful’ creates a level of sympathy for these workers, critique of government not of the young women

Question 5

London - 2 Broad contexts

Answer 5

1. Sexual politics in England

• Prostitution was a huge problem in Blake’s lifetime, and by 1793, there were an estimated 50,000 sex workers in London, though the figure is probably much greater
• Sex work was regarded as a necessary fact of English culture, men had to satisfy their sexual appetites. Prostitutes were widely available in the army, as the government feared if soldiers did not have access to them, they may become homosexual.
• Syphilis was the most dangerous venereal disease, causing blindness, insanity and even death. In the 1700s, it is estimated 1 in 5 londoners would have it by the time they were 35.

2. Poverty in London 1790s

• The population in London doubled in Blake’s lifetime, leading to overcrowding and unemployment
• Theft and crime were extremely high, theft on imports alone totalled £500,000
• Around 25% of Londoners lived below the subsistence level

Question 6

London - 2 critics

Answer 6

1. Punter 1981 - Blake can uniquely identify connections such as poverty and morality, warfare and death and marriage and prostitution as being part of a single phenomenon which is a “failure of…social organisation”.
2. Unnamed - “The city is a site of greed, corruption and loss of innocence.”