'london' - william blake

Question 1

describe the context of ‘london’:

Answer 1

• blake was born, grew up, and spent most of his life in London. witnessed the Industrial Revolution, he was very critical of it.
• he and his family were strongly religious, but he constantly criticised the Church of England, as he disliked the change he saw.
• London comes from the book ‘Songs of Experience’, which attacked the Church, other elements of contemporary society, and the ‘city’.

Question 2

describe the industrial revolution:

Answer 2

• time of mass change in London.
• factories opened up across the city, providing the lower classes with difficult, dangerous, low-paid jobs.
• factories = pollution. London was covered in black smog and nature was ruined.
• class divisions increased: there were those who rules (only a few people), and those who were ruled (the majority of people).

Question 3

analyse the title, ‘London’:

Answer 3

• declarative and unadorned with description (and opinion), suggesting that it will depict London ‘as it is’.

Question 4

what are the two definitions of ‘charter’d’?

Answer 4

• charter’d could refer to the amount of trade occurring in London at the time, and how the streets (cars) and Thames (boats) were incredibly busy.
• charter’d also could refer to political and economic control occurring in London at the time. (a charter is a document telling you who owns a plot of land). Blake is pointing out the ridiculousness of land that was previously free to the public becoming the property of those in power.
• by repeating this word, Blake is highlighting the increasing amount of control, which begins to seem inescapable - it covers both land and water.

Question 5

describe the imagery in ‘London’:

Answer 5

• ‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’ creates strong negative image - people are made weak and sad by living in London.
• ‘the mind-forg’d manacles I hear’ = handcuffs created in the mind. creates the idea that Londoner’s minds are being controlled, therefore control is total, crushing and inescapable.
• the first stanza describes visual imagery, the second describes aural imagery (e.g. infant’s cry of fear, every cry of every man). harder to escape noises than sounds, so London’s control is all around.

Question 6

analyse ‘every black’ning Church appalls’

Answer 6

• ‘every black’ning Church appalls’. ‘black’ning’ suggests that the walls are turning black due to the smog of the industrial revolution (sympathetic towards Church, it’s not their fault). it could also suggest the corruption of the Church.
• ‘appalls’ could mean shock and disgust (sympathetic towards the Church, it’s not them, it’s the industrial revolution), but it could also mean to turn pale (Church guilty of something, not looking after the disadvantaged members of society. trying to cover it up?)
• ‘black’ning’ then ‘appalls’ suggests that the Church’s walls have turned black, and then paler. the Church is overcoming the pollution, or its only looking after itself and its appearance at the cost of its people.
• corruption of the church also led to shock and disgust of the poem’s persona.

Question 7

analyse the phrase ‘youthful Harlot’:

Answer 7

juxtaposition between purity and (prostitute) dirtiness and unpleasantness highlights how London can corrupt everything.

Question 8

describe the imagery in the final stanza/quatrain:

Answer 8

• ‘blasts the new born Infant’s ear’: image suggests London’s corruption is reaching its newborns. it’s inevitable, inescapable.
• ‘blights with plagues’: suggests London is like a disease/illness. suggests it will corrupt many people and is incurable. final line of the poem, creates sense of inevitability - London will continue to control and corrupt.

Question 9

analyse the entire poem’s structure:

Answer 9

• four stanzas of four lines each - regular.
• strong ABAB rhyme scheme. strong, full rhymes.
• no escaping this rhyme scheme, it’s very controlled.
• iambic tetrameter is used throughout (de-Dum x4). some lines are shorter, however, and this shows how control could lead to weakness.
• third stanza is most rhythmically weak, when root of the problem is being discussed. second stanza is the strongest, when discussing the people of London, suggesting they do have power after all.
• poem’s poetic form is a dramatic monologue. first person, the persona watches/observes only, doesn’t take an active role in the poem. even the persona is powerless to the struggles of London.

Question 10

describe the mood throughout the poem:

Answer 10

• sense of inevitability throughout.
• critical edge/tone, as the persona criticises many aspects of London, because of its negative impact on people.

Question 11

what are the themes in ‘London’?

Answer 11

• power (power of ruling classes, powerlessness of people below them).
• time (about a specific time - the Industrial Revolution).
• place
• mankind (the effect a place can have on them).
• religion (attacks the Church) - maybe not enough quotations.