London - William Blake

Context
1. Blake lived in London, good knowledge of the city
2. lost faith in religion due to the church not helping those in need - prostitutes being exploited and child labour
3. industrial revolution 18th-19th century
4. corrupt government - lack of leadership and control
5. "songs of experience" - one of the two volumes of poetry where blake explored the state of the human soul - focus on the loss of innocence and corruption of socety
6. French Revolution late 18th century, a sense of uprising against authority spreading. 1792 (when ‘London’was written) revolutionary mobs invading Paris to overthrow king.
7. Blake openly supported rebellion, and despite the government putting in place a law to outlaw writings of a disloyal nature, Blake revealed this discontent through London
content
1. the narrator is describing a walk around the city of london, taking us on his visual journey
2. everywhere he goes, he meets people of misery and despair
3. the misery seems relentless, no one can escape it, not even the young and innocent
4. authoritative members of society (church) seem to be behind the problem yet do nothing to help those in need
form
1. dramatic monologue, first-person narrator speaks passionatley and personaly about the suffering he sees
2. ABAB rhyme scheme is unbroken, seems to echo the relentless misey of the city
3. regular rhyme scheme reflects the sound of his feet as he trudges aorund
strucutre
1. presents relentless images of downtrodden and deprived people
2. first two stanzas focus on people he sees and hears
3. shift in stanza three to the institutions he holds responsible
4. final stanza returns to looking at people, showing how even newborn babies are affected, amplifying the severity
5. 4 stanzas of 4 lines creates a rigid structure, links to control and order of authority yet juxtaposes the chaos amongst the people
language
1. use of rhetorical language to persuade you of his viewpoint
2. powerful and emotive words/images to reinforce the horror of the situation
3. repttion used to emphasise number of people affected, and to show how society needs to change
4. use of sensual language includes the depressing sights and sounds of the city, first stanza is about what he sees, second what he hears, and lat two combine visual and aural
contrasts
1. used to show how everything is affected and nothing pure or innocent remains
attitudes
1. anger
  1. emotive language and repition show the narrators anger at the situation
  2. especial anger at the people in power-- "every black`ning church" and "palace walls" - could do something to help but dont
2. hopelessness
  1. "mind-forged manacles" suggest people themself also to blame - traped by their own attitudes
  2. people not even trying to help themselves
sense of purposeless, reflecting way he feels powerless to change the situation
1. "i wander"
suggests the whole city is affected, not just one area, idea of city being mapped out - relation to control of authority
1. "each chartered street"
juxtaposition of something that should flow freely being controlled, power of people over nature - even natural features being affected
1. "the chartered thames does flow"
idea of everyone being affected and scared by the situation, emphasises severity - repetition creates feeling of bleakness, no escape/relief
1. "and mark in every fave i meet - marks of weakness, marks of woe"
use of sensual/aural language - distressing noises that create a vivid, hellish experience
1. "infants cry of fear"
people trapped in every-way, even by their own thoughts and minds - metaphor for the poor being controlled by the higherarchy, freedom being taken
1. "the mind-forged manacles I hear"
chimney-sweepers relates to the child labour, creating an emotive image
1. "how the chimney-sweepers cry"
sense of anger at all forms of power, blackening suggests its corrupt and decietful, tarnished by its failure to look after the people, also relates to dirt/pollution from industrial revolution
1. "every black`ning church appals"
blood - reference to french revolution - idea ordinary people suffer whilst higherachy protected behind the walls, stained with blood outside
1. "runs in blood down palace walls"
contrasts between innocence of youth and sordidness of prostitution
1. "youthful harlots"
the innocence of newborn babies lost immediatley - society damages all its members
1. "blasts the new-born infants tear"
powerful imagery of illness and disease, destruction implied by "blights" and "plagues" - something uncontrollable and destined to affect lots of people - degregation of society
1. "blights and plagues"
oxymoron - links happy image of marriage to death - suggests society to have been stripped from all positivity
1. "the marriage hearse"

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London - William Blake

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