Poem - London Flashcards
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
Where was William Blake educated?
William Blake had no formal education
What are William Blakes poems like?
All of William Blake’s poems are anti-authoritarian and have strong visual imagery.
London comes from the anthology called? Which explores?
Songs of Innocence and Experience which explores prostitution, poverty and child labour
London is full of negative words. For example, these 6
“fear” “appals” “blights” “hearse” “plagues” and “woe”
The poem ends with a phrase which suggest future and new life but also death and decay. This suggest that Blake thinks the future will be filled with sorrow
Marriage hearse
What sort of structure is the London written in?
Four quatrains with alternate lines rhyming
These 3 words are repeated in the poem and create a sense of urgency
“Charter’d” “mark” and “every”
This word is repeated to suggest sadness and pathos
“Every”
The main image of London is in the exact middle of the poem to emphasise its importance
Mind-forg’d manacles
Blake thinks it wrong that children are forced to clean churches rather than be fed by the church
the Chimney-sweeper’s cry / Every blackening church appals
The French Revolution happened just before London was written. Blake thinks the English will also revolt.
“Blood down Palace walls”
With this quote, images of the people of London’s being enslaved are invoked in the readers mind
Mind-forged manacles
The verb forged in “mind-forged manacles” suggests that….
The manacles on the people’s minds are not real
These four verbs are forceful and give the poem a violent edge
“Forged”, “appals”, “blasts” and “blights”
