Poem - London Flashcards
London comes from the anthology called? Which explores?
Songs of Innocence and Experience which explores prostitution, poverty and child labour
The line “ marks of weakness, marks of woe” is not iambic pentameter and has only 7 syllables
Shows weakness of the line
The main image of London is in the exact middle of the poem to emphasise its importance
Mind-forg’d manacles
The verb forged in “mind-forged manacles” suggests that….
The manacles on the people’s minds are not real
Irony of chartered Thames
Attempt to own and control nature
With this quote, images of the people of London’s being enslaved are invoked in the readers mind
Mind-forged manacles
Why did William Blake reject established religion?
He rejected the Chruch because he felt they spent money on themselves rather than helping the poverty-stricken kids of London
The French Revolution happened just before London was written. Blake thinks the English will also revolt.
“Blood down Palace walls”
Why is chartered bad?
Public land had recently been privatised and many had profited from this move
Describe how topic of poem changes, cyclical structure.
Suffering
Reason for suffering
Suffering
London is full of negative words. For example, these 6
“fear” “appals” “blights” “hearse” “plagues” and “woe”
These 3 words are repeated in the poem and create a sense of urgency
“Charter’d” “mark” and “every”
What is the rhyme scheme of the quatrains and why is it so repetitive?
A B A B. Repetitiveness shows relentless suffering in city
This word is repeated to suggest sadness and pathos
“Every”
Intertextual reference of manacles
Rousseau “man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains”
