William Blake specialised in
illuminated texts often
religious
He rejected established religion
for various reasons like the
failure of the established Church
to help children in London who
were forced to work.
Worked and lived in
capital so new about
living/working
conditions there
About
A journey around London showing
the horrid conditions the speaker
sees
Starts with criticism of land ownership
Criticises relgion and that
the church is inactive at
helping those who need it
Child labour and
prostitution are
explored and the end
shows future
consequences of STDs
Structure
Ballad about tragedy and song like
London is
present in a
regular,
imprisoned way
like the poem in 4
quatrains
ABAB rhyme system contributes
to song like and imprisonment
Each stanza shows a
snapshot of a problem as
the voice wonders through
the city
Sound
Assonance in 2nd
stanza echoes sound
of screaming
"marks of weakness
marks of woe"
sibilance to show evil
"hapless""blood down"
bilabeal plosives to
show anger of poetic
voice
Emjambent in stanza 3
shows cries of children
are long lasting
Repitition of "every"
empthasis that
everyone is effected
Repitition of "chartered" shows
how mapped everything is and
robbing others of freedom
Repititon of "marks" shows
physical marks from bad
conditions and how they
were recorded by the poetic
voice
Imagery
"Mind forged manacales" like
handcuffs suggesting that
people's minds are restricted
and confined - that the city has
robbed them of the ability to
think.
"chartered thames" water
restriction which shows
strength of restriction as
water normally shows
freedom
"youthful harlot" women
lose dignity and "youth"
shows corruption
"marriage hearse" oxymoron
as associating marriage with
death
"midnight" darkness, evil
and supernatural like
witching hour
"blackning church" shows dirt and
soot and everything is unclean even
the church which is meant to be
pure. Shows the lack of empathy
Attitudes
Biblical
Shows his strong intrest in
religion showing a future of the
terrible consequences unless
changes are made in the city.
Mockery of religion
Money spent on church
while children live in poverty
and their soot covers church
walls
Pessimistic
No hope for future
Comparison
Price We Pay for the Sun
People in relation to
where they live
People live in poverty and suffer
in both although different
landscape