London

Question 1

Semantic field: darkness

Answer 1

"Black'ning church"
"Curse"
"Runs in blood down palace walls"
"Midnight"
"Hearse"

Question 2

Semantic field: dualistic

Answer 2

Gives the sense of duality, fight between good and evil.
“Marriage hearse”
“Black’ning church”
“Youthful” and “curse”

Question 3

Tone

Answer 3

Bitter and angry tone, gives a pessimistic view, that symbolises no hope and gives the sense that the narrator feels wretched, as he is condemned to see all sides of London and human emotion.
Gives the idea that the narrator thinks that society does not account or care for the suffering within London.
Leads to the question - is he ahead of his own time?

Question 4

Upbeat rhyme

Answer 4

1) creates a regular tone, as if everything is expected - this would be because the poem is from a Victorian era, which had a fragmented society
2) creates juxtaposition between the expected (rhyme scheme) and the reality (horror of the words).
3) upbeat rhyme shows the rich to think everything is fine, underlying point is that things are horrific.

Question 5

“Black’ning church”

Answer 5

“Black” - noun. Signifies sin, consumption of evil or darkness, a malevolent or sinister sense.
“Church” -noun. Symbolises innocence, purity - the home and place of god.
These ideas create an oxymoron, and show the dark and twisted nature of religion within the Victorian society and the part the narrator blames the church for having, as they’re meant to help the poor and helpless.

Question 6

“Marriage hearse”

Answer 6

“Marriage” - noun. Shows prosperity, desire, unity, love and hope.
“Hearse” - noun. Connotes with death, hopelessness.
Another dualistic idea, creates an oxymoron.

Question 7

“Midnight”

Answer 7

Dark time of London, signifies the time when evil and suffering comes out for the poor, compared to the happiness of day time for the rich.
Dualistic nature

Question 8

“Curse”

Answer 8

In a religious society, having the label of a “curse” would ostracise someone from society and cause them to be seen as marked by the devil and the curse would be a punishment from their sins.

Question 9

“Mind-forged manacles”

Answer 9

Metaphor for being mentally caged in and punished or imprisoned.

Question 10

“Cry” and “man”

Answer 10

This oxymoron degrades the man, as the Victorian idea of a man was strong, respected and the bane of life. The verb “cry”, however, immaculates them and shows weakness, the opposite to what a Victorian man should be.

Question 11

“Runs in blood”

Answer 11

Horrific or cinematic imagery, shows the situation to be violent and highlights the extremely of the situation.
“Run” could signify the speed of the situation and how fast he sees the society to be failing.