Here’s a detailed analysis of the poem ‘London’ by William Blake. These notes are tailored towards students from Y9 to A-Level (age 13+), including being suitable for collections such as AQA Power and Conflict Poetry.
It includes, but is not limited to:
Vocabulary
Summary
Language Fea...
I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.
How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.
But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
VOCABULARY
Wander - walk aimlessly, without purpose or clear direction
Thro’ - through
Charter’d - chartered
Thames - the river Thames that flows through London
To mark something - to notice
Woe - sadness
Ban - an archaic word meaning ‘curse’
, Mind-forg’d - created by the mind
Manacles - chained arm or ankle bands that signify slavery or capture
Chimney sweepers - people whose job it was to clean the soot and dirt out of
chimneys
Blackning - blackening
Appalls - horrifies / terrifies
Hapless - unfortunate
Sigh - a breath of air, an expression of sadness, tiredness, depression or defeat
Harlot - prostitute
Blights - ruins / afflicts
Plague - highly infectious disease
Hearse - a carriage or car that carries bodies at a funeral
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