London (People and Place/Poverty) Flashcards
Who wrote London?
William Blake
Describe the story of London in terms of the 4 stanzas
-Tells of his/Blake’s journey through the streets of London and what he sees.
-Stanza 1 - Describes the streets as “charter’d” and then describes the faces of the people.
-Stanza 2 - Describes the sounds he hears, repetition shows the scale of the problem.
-Stanza 3 - Blames the major institutions for the problem - Church and monarchy.
-Stanza 4 - Refocuses on the youth and their poor situation.
-Title could suggest it’s about the city and its people
What does the ‘I wander thro’ each charter’d street’ suggest? (first line in poem)
-‘I’ shows it’s from 1st person perspective
-They are walking through city
-‘charter’d’ suggests it’s owned by government/council so possible corruption?
-Resentful tone- disappointed/bitter tone as he feels it is unfair that government have so much control but are ruthless so don’t help poor
Describe what ‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’ shows (end of first stanza)
-repetition of ‘marks’ not only shows that everyone is weak and distressed but also damaged by poverty- they are victims of poverty
-repetition of ‘marks’ shows obvious physical scars/turmoil (disturbance)people suffered
-People are damaged by society
-woe= distress/sorrow
-alliteration ‘weakness’/’woe’ emphasis plight (unfortunate situation) and level of suffering
What does ‘In every Infant’s cry of fear’ suggest? (second stanza)
-‘Infant’s’ and ‘fear’ are emotive- children are victims of poverty and poverty is cyclical due to people in power as parents experience it and pass it on to children
-In the 2nd stanza repetition of ‘In every’=enormity of issue of poverty in London
-Repetition of ‘In every’ is holistic-illustrates vast suffering in society
Tell me what ‘The mind-forg’d manacles I hear’ illustrates (end of 2nd stanza)
-‘forg’d’=something solidly put together
-‘manacles’=chains, cuffs
-metaphor of ‘manacles’=Their own mind is a prison, they are exploited and downtrodden(depressed) by poverty due to corrupt government= the main message of this poem
-These people are mentally trapped in their social class/poverty
-‘I hear’= Blake has witnessed these conditions of poverty first-hand
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What image does ‘Runs in blood down Palace walls’ create? (end of third stanza)
-Talking about soldiers
-Metaphor of ‘blood’ on ‘Palace walls’- the monarchy have blood on their hands and the government don’t care about people in poverty/soldiers
-The monarchy and government are responsible for the soldiers’ deaths
What idea is ‘the youthful Harlot’s curse’ conveying? (last stanza)
-adjective ‘youthful’ illustrates that poverty is cyclical, poverty runs through every age
-‘Harlot’s’=prostitute, shows how desperate people are for money so turn to prostitution
-‘curse’ shows that people of London who are poor are cursed to this horrid reality of dirty work to earn money
-Young girls have to take drastic step of prostitution to survive= hard life/desperation
Describe what is meant by ‘blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.’ (last line)
-‘blights’=thing that damages/ spoils something
-metaphor of ‘plagues’=poverty is disease that kills and spreads/is no cure and it infests London
-oxymoron of ‘Marriage hearse’ implies that people are stuck with poverty for the rest of their lives until they die, poverty signs their life away
-Hearse= what bodies are carried in for memorial service
-‘Marriage hearse’ could also show that no matter in their happiest moments, even marriage, poverty will still be the death of them
What’s the context of London?
-Published as part of ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ - one of the songs which reflects the more negative aspects of life.
-Blake lived and worked in London during the Victorian era which was a time of great poverty and industrial change.
Describe the structure of London and what it means
-Enjambment illustrates that poverty is an ongoing problem and is cyclical/can’t escape it
-Rhyming couplets in every stanza might show that poverty causes a lot of problems in Victorian London and that poverty is inevitable as a result of government/monarchy
-Blake talks about three roles of ‘Chimney-sweeper’s’, ‘Soldier’s’, ‘youthful Harlot’s’- he does this to represent poverty and pain government cause, they are three representations of poverty/desperation in society and they all probably died/suffered.
-Ends every stanza with ‘.’ to show impact of poverty on society and to raise another point
-Four lines in each stanza possibly shows ongoing problem of poverty in London
Who is the perspective of London from?
Blake walking through London
