London

Question 1

Hat is the poem about?

Answer 1

Blake is describing walk around London and how the people he meets are miserable and despairing which no one can escape. The church does nothing to help the people who need it.

Question 2

What is the form?

Answer 2

It is the dramatic monologue. ABAB rhyme scheme is unbroken and seems to echo the relentless misery of the city. The rhyme reflects the sound of his feet as the trudges around.

Question 3

What is the structure?

Answer 3

The narrator presents relentless images of downtrodden, deprived people.
The 1st 2 stanzas focus on people he sees and hears.
The 3rd stanza is the institutions he holds responsible.
4th stanza returns to look at people showing how even newborn babies are affected.

Question 4

What is the uses of the senses?

Answer 4

The poem includes the depressing sights and sounds of a city.
The 1st 2 stanzas shows what he sees and hears.
The 2nd 2 stanzas combine the visual and aural.

Question 5

What is rhetoric?

Answer 5

Blake uses rhetorical language to persuade you of his point of view.
He uses powerful and emotive words and images to reinforce the horror of the situation.
Repetition is used to emphasise the number of people affected.

Question 6

What is the contrast?

Answer 6

These show how everything is affected and nothing pure or innocent remains.