Here you will find detailed summary notes for "London" (1794), including: (1) a short summary of the text, (2) analysis of the language/form/structure, (3) a list of key quotations with some analysis (4) background context. I hope that you find this resource useful.
London (1794)
William Blake (1757-1827)
Story
• The narrator is describing a walk round the city of London.
• He says that everywhere he goes, the people he meets are affected by misery and despair.
• The misery seems relentless; no-one can escape it – not even the young and innocent.
• People in power (like the Church, the monarchy and wealthy landowners) seem to be behind the problems, and do
nothing to help the people in need.
Language
• Rhetoric: The narrator uses rhetorical language to persuade others of his point of view – he uses powerful,
emotive words and images to reinforce the horror of the situation.
• Repetition: used to emphasise the number of people affected, and to demonstrate how society needs to change.
• Senses: The poem includes the depressing sights and sounds of the city – the first stanza is about what he sees, the
second what he hears and the last two stanzas combine the visual and aural.
• Contrasts: used to show how everything is affected and nothing pure or innocent remains.
• Anger: Emotive language and repetition show the narrator’s anger at the situation. He’s angry at the people in
power, who could do something to change things but don’t.
• Hopelessness: The “mind-forged manacles” suggest that the people themselves are also to blame – they’re
trapped by their own attitudes. They appear hopeless because they’re not able (or even trying) to help themselves.
Structure
• The narrator presents relentless images of downtrodden, deprived people.
• The first 2 stanzas focus on people he sees and hears, before the focus shifts in stanza 3 to the institutions he
holds responsible.
• The final stanza returns to the people affected, and to show how society needs to change.
Quotations
• “I wander thro' each charter'd street,” – L1: First person narrator makes the poem seem real; ‘charter’d’
reflects how the city is owned by the rich and powerful.
• “Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.” – L2: Ironic – even something natural has been claimed,
and is affected by the city (trade).
• “Marks of weakness, marks of woe.” – L4: Repetition emphasises the feeling of bleakness – despair affects
everyone and there’s no relief from it.
• “In every cry of every Man, / In every Infants cry of fear, / In every voice: in every ban” – L5-7:
Repetition emphasises the suffering; ‘Man’ and ‘Infant’ could refer to the Songs, while ‘ban’ refers to the
laws; suggests that people are choosing not to do anything about their repression.
• “The mind-forg'd manacles I hear” – L8: (manacles = chains) not physically trapped, but mentally – these
people could make a change, but have decided not to themselves.
• “How the Chimney-sweepers cry / Every blackning Church appals” – L9-10: Chimney sweepers were
typically young boys – Blake is critical of those in power for forcing this on children, but also critical of the
church whose duty should be to protect these children; ‘blackning’ suggests the church is corrupt or tarnished
by its failure to look after people, or even a grim allusion to the foulness of the Industrial Revolution.
• “the hapless Soldiers sigh / Runs in blood down Palace walls” – L11-12: Now being critical of those in
power; suggests they are protected while the soldiers are forced to fight their wars; implies they are to blame
for the soldiers’ suffering.
• “How the youthful Harlots curse / Blasts the new-born Infants tear” – L14-15: The innocence of a new-
born baby is lost immediately by a swearing prostitute – criticism of society for harming its own members.
• “And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse” – L16: i.e. marriage leads to death (see above).
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