William Blake: London

Question 1

Glen has examined

Answer 1

Glen has examined those pieces—such as “London”—that deal with social problems and notes that the self-consciousness of Blake’s poetic voice sets him apart from his contemporaries. The poem’s speaker, in relating the deplorable conditions associated with urban life, “does not assume a position of righteous indignation: from the very beginning he recognizes his own implication in that which he sees.” The result is not a moral attitude that exposes and protests against social problems, but rather a “profound uneasiness” on the part of both the poem’s speaker and the reader