London by William Blake

Question 1

Context:

Answer 1

• Blake was one of the early Romantic poets; focused on emotion, imagination, and innocence of childhood.
• Blake believed in social equality and viewed the Church and monarchy as corrupt institutions responsible for suffering.
• The poem comes from the “Songs of Experience”, about corruption of innocence and suffering.
• Blake was also against the industrial revolution and capitalism; perhaps he encourages a revolution through this poem.

Question 2

Form:

Answer 2

• Balladic form, 4 quatrains, rhyme scheme of ABAB throughout.
• Tightly controlled and regular form reflects the oppression and control in London for the poor.

Question 3

Meter:

Answer 3

• Iambic tetrameter, mostly consistent, once again reflecting the controlled state of London.
• Trochaic substitution for “marks (of weakness etc.”, exemplifying the suffering.

Question 4

Structure:

Answer 4

The poem employs a very static structure, endlessly depicting the unending suffering and oppression on the streets of London, creating a monotonous sense of entrapment.

Question 5

KEY QUOTE: The river itself is controlled, accentuating the extent of human control in the area:

Answer 5

“where the charter’d Thames does flow”

Question 6

KEY QUOTE: The speaker notices the universal, widespread suffering:

Answer 6

“mark in every face I meet marks of weakness, marks of woe”

Question 7

KEY QUOTE: Anaphora exemplifies how widespread the suffering is, metaphor also used to show mental entrapment, emphasising the level of oppression:

Answer 7

“In every… (anaphora) the mind-forg’d manacles I hear”

Question 8

KEY QUOTE(S): Corruption of the powerful institutions:

Answer 8

• “How the Chimney-sweepers cry / Every blackning Church appalls”
• “the hapless soldiers sigh / Runs in blood down Palace walls”

Question 9

KEY QUOTE: Prostitutes tremendously suffering:

Answer 9

“How the youthful Harlots curse”

Question 10

KEY QUOTE: Links marriage, a joyful idea, to death, exemplifying the inescapable suffering in London:

Answer 10

“blights with plagues the marriage hearse”

Question 11

Summary

Answer 11

This poem is of a highly negative tone and is arguably about a ghost-like figure, or perhaps Blake himself, as the speaker, walking through 19th Century London during the industrial revolution, observing the eternal suffering inflicted on the oppressed lower classes as a result of the corrupt Church and monarchies; perhaps Blake encourages a revolution against them through the depiction of this suffering to gain equal treatment for all.