London Flashcards
who wrote the poem?
William Blake
what are the main themes of the poem?
- negative emotions
- sense of place
- suffering
- power and control
what are the possible links?
- living space (welfare and living conditions)
- Hawk Roosting (power and control)
- ozymandias (power and control)
- a wife in london
- to autumn
- the prelude
- (afternoons?)
what volume is this poem from?
the ‘songs of experience’
what did the ‘songs of experience’ explore?
they looked at how innocence is lost and how society has been corrupted
what era was Blake from?
the victorian era
what beliefs did Blake have?
he believed in social and racial equality and questioned the church - he held quite radical social and political views for the time, he was anti-establishment
what movement was Blake a part of?
the Romantic movement
what does the use of repetition do?
could imply the cycle of poverty and that there is no escape for the lower social classes, also emphasises the number of people affected and calls for change
what is the form of the poem?
it is a dramatic monologue - the first person narrator (poet-speaker) speaks passionately and personally about the suffering he sees
what is the rhyme scheme?
ABAB, it is unbroken and seems to echo the relentless misery of the city
what does the rhythm of the poem do?
it is regular/a fixed rhythm so it could reflect the sound of his feet as he trudges down the street
what does each stanza focus on?
first: focuses on what he sees
second: focuses on what he hears
third: focusses on the institutions he holds responsible
fourth: returns to look at the people affected
what is the poem about?
the narrator is describing a walk, says everywhere he goes the people are miserable and no one can escape it, and says that those in power are doing nothing to help. he questions the morality and inequality of wealth and shows how he is frustrated by the world around him
what is the first stanza?
I wander thro’ each charter’d street, / Near where the charter’d Thames does flow, / And mark in every face I meet / Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
what helped inspire Blake?
the 1789 French revolution
what does the first person narrator do?
it helps personalise the poem and makes it seem more real
what does the verb ‘wander’ do?
it sounds purposeless which could reflect how he feels powerless to change what’s happening and it shows that he is taking the reader on a journey using his first hand account of the problems faced by the people in the city
what are the annotations of ‘each charter’d street’?
suggests the whole city is affected and it’s not just one area
what are the annotations for ‘the charter’d Thames’?
even the powerful, natural features are under human control and the government’s ownership and is affected by the city’s problems
what does the repetition of ‘charter’d’ do?
it emphasises how everything is owned and shows his frustration, also shows that it is not open for the public as it should be and shows the issues with the society and the government
what does the repetition of ‘mark’ in the first stanza do?
it symbolises the physical scarring of the people of london, it could also suggest the obvious suffering that was happening and also emphasises a feeling of bleakness and despair as it affects everyone
what is the second stanza?
In every cry of every Man, / In every Infant’s cry of fear, / In every voice, in every ban, / the mind-forg’d manacles I hear.
what does the anaphora of ‘In every’ in the second stanza do?
emphasises the feeling of bleakness and despair as no one can escape poverty and implies that poverty impacts everyone and there is no relief from it
