London by William Blake

Question 1

William Blake

Answer 1

Born in London, 1757, lived there for most of his life (gives impression that the “I” in poem is him). Respected the Bible but disliked organised religion like Church of England, often wrote about rebelling against misuse of power and class. Wrote during the Industrial Revolution, which Blake was strongly opposed to - as nature was being ruined, pollution etc.

Question 2

Poem context

Answer 2

Comes from a collection “Songs of Experience”. His whole collection “Songs of Experience” focuses on a harsh view of a world corrupted by humans. Can be seen as a critique of human power, exposing the distance between those in power and those suffering. Their suffering is inescapable as it is caused by the misuse of power of those in control.

Question 3

Language - imagery of suffering/conflict

Answer 3

Overwhelmingly large use of negative language: “marks of weakness, marks of woe”, “cry of every man”, “infant’s cry of fear”, “mind forged manacles”, “chimney-sweeper’s cry”, “soldier’s sigh”, “blights with plagues the marriage hearse”, etc. Could analyse these separately or their cumulative effect. But the cause of this conflict is important: those in power.

Question 4

Language - “charter’d”

Answer 4

“charter’d” x2 - not originally used, but Blake added it to the poem later (so must be important). A charter was a doc that stated who owned what, and creating charters made the rich richer (bankers etc.). “charter’d street” = properties around him are privately owned. “charter’d Thames” = forcing of human power onto nature - a juxtaposition of power of nature and supposed power of man (a satirical attack on the obsession with property rights, and human power). Ironic, as a river cannot be controlled by passing of a law.

Question 5

Language - “marks”

Answer 5

“mark in every face I meet / marks of weakness, marks of woe”. Same word used thrice, but has a different meaning (to notice something, or as an attribute). Use of word with changing meanings reflects Blake’s frustration with the changing nature of London - he clearly didn’t like London changing.

Question 6

Language - “in every” (anaphora)

Answer 6

Repetition of “in every” in stanza 2 builds up in a crescendo effect to the last line in stanza which is “the mind forged manacles I hear”. This line is an intertextual reference to a Swiss philosopher called Rousseau, that thought that man is born free but always chained. He’s saying that man’s lack of freedom is “mind forged” - it comes from the ideas and outlook imposed on them by the govt, the Church (external authorities), but it’s up to us to accept them or not, and unfortunately, they did accept these ideas, and made themselves prisoners. Also the image of “manacles” would be quite shocking to a contemporary audience who saw criminals handcuffed (with “manacles”) very often.

Question 7

Language - hyperbole of “blood down…”

Answer 7

Blake mentions the hyperbolic phrase “the hapless soldier’s sigh runs in blood down palace walls”, which refers to the French Revolution which led to a lot of bloodshed (people often said “blood was running down the walls”). He’s saying that the unhappiness of the British soldier might lead to a similar uprising if its causes continued to be ignored. And the mention of “palace” suggests the monarchy is to blame too. The hyperbolic phrase emphasises this warning.

Question 8

Language - oxymoronic last line

Answer 8

Final line is “blights with plagues the marriage hearse”. This final image really gives the main idea of the poem - happy “marriage” is paired with the negative “hearse” (which references death), and creates an overwhelmingly negative image. Suggests that what was so good (the London that Blake loved) is destined to be destroyed, creating a powerful ending to criticise how the misuse of power of the following groups leads to widespread suffering and despair: monarchy, govt, organised religion, landowners, the wealthy etc.

Question 9

Structure - repetitive structure

Answer 9

Written entirely in quatrains, written in ABAB rhyme scheme. Repetitive stanza structure and repetitive rhyme scheme reflect the relentless, overwhelming suffering in the city. There are also lots of words repeated: “charter’d”, “mark”, “every” - this reflects how the life of suffering is repetitive and insescapable, because it’s a result of the choices of those in positions of power (who are the only ones who can change things)

Question 10

Structure - cyclical structure

Answer 10

Whole text is in a cyclical structure.
Stanza 1: Focus on people suffering
Stanza 2: Focus on people suffering
Stanza 3: causes of suffering (Church, industrialisation, landowners, monarchy, govt)
Stanza 4: returns to focus of those who are suffering
By implementing a cyclical structure, which highlights the inescapable fate of those in the city. (cyclical through returning to the same topic as the first stanza.)

Question 11

Structure - metre

Answer 11

Most of the poem is written in iambic tetrameter - repetition of this metre is another example of their inescapable suffering. But specifically, one line has 7 syllables: “marks of weakness, marks of woe”. The structure of the line itself is weak (as it has one less syllable), and emphasises the weakness of those who are suffering as it is weaker than the other lines.

Question 12

Summary of quotes

Answer 12

“each charter’d street”, “where the charter’d Thames does flow”, “mark in every face I meet / marks of weakness, marks of woe”, “In every”x3, “the mind forged manacles I hear”, “every black’ning Church appalls”, “the hapless soldier’s sigh / runs in blood down palace walls”, “blights with plagues the marriage hearse”.

Question 13

Tone

Answer 13

A bleak and hopeless tone, revealing a deep disillusionment with the city’s suffering ang those responsible for it. Also critical, accusatory, but desperate and claustrophobic (the harsh, direct repetition of certain words and with the structure of the poem makes the suffering close in on you on all sides).

Question 14

Themes/comparisons