Context – London was written by William Blake in 1792, and was published in Songs of Experience in 1794.

Line-by-Line Analysis
William Blake – William Blake (1757-1827) was London in 1792 – London was already a large STANZA LINE POEM ANALYSIS
an English poet and painter. He is known as being city with nearly a million people. The Industrial The opening stanza sets the tone and setting for the
one of the leading figures of the Romantic Revolution had brought new machinery that remainder of the poem. The repetition of the word
Movement, as well as for his personal eccentricities. saved time, making some very rich, however it put many out ‘charter’d’ shows how legally defined, mapped out, or in
Blake rejected established religious and political orders for of jobs. Machinery was often hazardous to operate, and those 1 I wander thro' each charter'd street, this case, confined the place is - Everything, it seems, is
already decided, and is subject to government control -
their failures, particularly in how children were made to work working with it were paid poorly. There was no government
– this was one of many things that he viewed as being a part support for these people, so many lived in total poverty. For 2 Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. there is little room for freedom or imagination. This
particular spot is near the Thames River – which too has
of the ‘fallen human nature.’ He lived in London for his whole every 1,000 children born, almost 500 died before they were 1 3 And mark in every face I meet been ‘charter’d.’ In each of the faces that the speaker
life, barring three years in which he resided in Felpham. 2. Most children couldn’t go to school, and had to work. sees, he notes how society seems to be wearing them
Songs of Innocence and Experience – Romanticism – Romanticism was an artistic, 4 Marks of weakness, marks of woe. down and hurting them (‘weakness’ and ‘woe’). The
Published in 1794, these two sets of poems were literary, musical, cultural and intellectual word ‘mark’ has a dual meaning: to notice something,
but also to physically imprint something. The impact of
created by Blake with the aim of showing the ‘Two movement that originated in Europe in the latter
living in this place is having a noticeable impact on the
Contrary States of the Human Soul.’ The Songs of half of the 18th Century, peaking in the mid-19th people there. This creates a melancholy tone.
Innocence collection contains poems that are Century. Romanticism is characterised by its emphasis on The second stanza gives some further insight into the
uplifting, celebrating childhood, nature, and love in a positive emotions - glorifying nature and past events – memories and speaker’s feelings regarding the people that he passes
tone. The Songs of Experience section (of which London was settings are often imaginatively described using vivid by. Blake uses more repetition, this time of the word
one of the poems) offered a contrasting tone towards these imagery. Although Blake struggled to make a living during 5 In every cry of every Man, ‘cry’, emphasising the desperate sorrow in this city. He
ideas. Some of the topics covered in these poems were the his lifetime, his ideas and influence were later considered also uses anaphora to emphasise the word ‘every’ – to
dangerous working conditions, child labour, and poverty. amongst the most important of all the Romantic Poets. 6 In every Infants cry of fear, make clear that all here feel the same, there are no real
2 7 In every voice: in every ban,
exceptions. ‘Manacles’ are some kind of chain or
shackles that keep people imprisoned. The idea that
these are ‘mind forg’d’ shows that these are
Language/Structural Devices 8 The mind-forg'd manacles I hear metaphorical manacles that are created by society and
the people’s own ideas. This early use of the words
Sight Imagery – Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering Blake’s Sound Imagery – The pained and anguished sounds of charter’d, ban and manacles show that Blake feels that
artistic talents, the poem is awash with visual imagery, with a London also accompany the reader as they are guided society imprisons people with pressures and ideals.
clear picture of London vividly painted in the mind of the through the city by the speaker. Particularly from stanza 2 In the third stanza, the speaker delves further into his
reader. For example, the speaker details the ‘mark’ in every onwards, the reader is shown how helpless and destitute the feelings against what he sees in London. He begins with
face that he meets, which provides a visual connotation of citizens feel through the sounds that they make, from the ‘cry’ the chimney sweep, a dirty and dangerous job which
the people’s skin being physically imprinted by their hardships of men and infants, to the ‘sigh’ of the soldiers, and the ‘curse’ shortened life expectancy, often done by child orphans
– the reader can picture their cuts, brusies and ailments. and ‘blast’ of the harlots at night. The sound imagery aids the 9 How the Chimney-sweepers cry (orphans of the church), who were small enough to fit
Similarly, the use of the word ‘blackning’ in stanza 3, creating reader in hearing the grim pain of each of the people that down chimneys. The ‘blackning’, therefore, can refer to
a dirty image of pollution and corruption in the city. the speaker encounters. 10 Every blackning Church appalls, the physical blackening of the children covered in soot,
Quote: “And mark in every face I meet Quote: “In every cry of every Man, 3 11 And the hapless Soldiers sigh
their symbolic blackening in being drawn closer to
death, and the church’s metaphorical blackening
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.” In every Infants cry of fear,” (becoming more evil) in being involved in such horrific
Metaphors – Figurative language is highly prevalent Repetition/ Anaphora – Blake repeats words and phrases 12 Runs in blood down Palace walls child labour. Lines 11 and 12 use the metaphor of the
throughout the poem, particularly in lines 3 and 4 of each to emphasise their importance. For example, the word soldier’s blood running down the wall of the palace to
stanza. For example, the soldiers’ blood does not literally run ‘charter’d’ is repeated throughout the opening stanza to show show that those in power have blood on their hands for
down the walls of the palace; this is a means of showing that how rigid and unchanging London is. The anaphora used in sending so many men into war. The soldier’s ‘hapless
sigh’ suggests that he feels powerless to change things.
those in power have caused the soldiers to experience pain stanza 2 of ‘In every’ emphasises the frequency and
and suffering. In the same way, the ‘manacles’ that the consistency of the pain and suffering – it is happening all over The speaker then turns his attention to the things that
citizens wear are in fact shackles of the mind. and is clear to see and hear. he encounters at night in London. The idea that the
‘Harlot’ is ‘youthful’ is troubling, for it shows that even
Quote: “And the hapless Soldiers sigh Quote: “I wander thro' each charter'd street, those that are young and innocent are being drawn
Runs in blood down Palace walls” Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.” 13 But most thro' midnight streets I hear into prostitution. Even worse, the subject of her ‘curse’ is
Form/Structure – The poem is written in four equal stanzas Varied Verbs – Blake uses a range of interesting verbs to the tears of ‘new-born Infants’ –this shows the hardened
14 How the youthful Harlots curse heart of those corrupted by the city. Another metaphor
of four lines, each in iambic tetrameter. Alternating rhyme is demonstrate the wearisome and pained manner in which
used throughout in the scheme of ABAB. The rhyme creates actions are carried out in London. Often these are figurative. 4 15 Blasts the new-born Infants tear
is used to show how the harlot ‘blights with plagues the
marriage hearse’ – in the sense that the existence of
deliberate emphasis on words that underline the tone of the For example, the harlots ‘blight’ the marriage hearse, and young prostitutes in the city is destroying the institution
poem, e.g. ‘cry’ and ‘sigh.’ The poem is told from the ‘blasts’ the new-born infants tear. Such verbs are carefully 16 And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse of marriage. This is also clear from the semi-oxymoronic
viewpoint of a first person narrator who is walking the streets. selected to attain the maximum impact on the reader. idea of the ‘marriage hearse.’ It also references some of
Quote: “I wander thro' each charter'd street/ Near where the the damaging and disgusting diseases that are being
Quote: “Blasts the new-born Infants tear spread across the city. In short, those that are innocent
charter'd Thames does flow/ And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.” And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse” become quickly corrupted and infected in this city.

Themes – A theme is an idea or message that runs throughout a text. Poems for Comparison The Poet’s Influences
Death/Mortality – The poem is full of dark imagery that creates a constant sense of darkness and death across the London can be compared and contrasted In Blake’s London, the condition of the poor and their children were
poem. The mortality of all manner of people in London, from the child chimney sweepers, to the ‘hapless soldiers’, Ozymandias with this poem in relation to the theme of desperate…the rise in the population, poor harvests and war created
serious hardships. Orphans and the illegitimate children of the poor could
even the institution of marriage, is depressingly detailed by Blake - it is as though London is slowly strangling itself. death/mortality be sold into apprenticeships that offered meagre prospects; young boys
were used to sweep chimneys (prostitution and dire housing conditions
Loss and Suffering – The people in London are described as being helpless – constrained by the authorities but London can be compared and contrasted were continuing problems. Some philanthropic initiatives attempted to
also the ‘manacles’ generated by their own perceptions and ideas. The ‘sigh’ of the soldier and the marks of ‘woe’ Exposure with this poem in the approach to the address these issues, but asylums and charity schools were often linked to
and ‘weakness’ in the people suggests that the people feel that they are trapped in an inescapable cycle of suffering. theme of loss and suffering. the exploitative apprenticeship system. From the British Library – www.bl.uk