I wandered through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
A mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:
How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.
But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
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good poem
From guest utsaha (contact)
the poem 'london' by Blake is a lovely poem but i hate the way he has described london as 'chartered street' or neither do i like the words he has used like 'blackening', 'chimney-sweepers' or 'harlot's curse'. this poem tells us how horrible london was at the period of william blake. -
London by William Blake
From guest nicky (contact)
The poem London by William Blake has a sinister and corrupt atmosphere throughout its entirety, which we can tell by his use of language. He uses words such as “blackn’ing” and “Chimney sweepers cry”. These two statements linked together imply darkness and misery. Darkness from the word “blackn’ing” and also the soot associated with chimneys, and misery from the chimney sweepers “cry”. Also the word “blackn’ing” is placed next to “Church appals”, in this context the word “blackn’ing” could represent the guilt of the church, as in those times orphaned children were sent to work and chimney sweeps, and due to being stricken by poverty and their poor status they required help from the church for food and housing, but were frequently turned away. This is why “blackn’ing Church” is a vivid image to give to the reader, it’s a strong contradiction to the typical issues commonly associated with the church such as hope and the light of God. Blake uses language specifically in his first two stanzas with the words, “charter’d”, “in every”, and “marks”, this shows that Blake is not limiting this description to just the inhabitants of London. The repetition of these words indicates Blake’s emphasis on despair and confinement, which could also represent the suffocating mood of London and its inhabitants. His third stanza includes ‘’hapless soldiers sigh’’ and ‘’blood down Palace walls’’ which refer to the government or Monarchy sending young men off to fight for their country. ‘’runs in blood down Palace walls’’, shows us that Blake is placing blame on the institution that would send these young men to their deaths, the blood running down is a public image for all to see. -
COURSEWORK TOO!!!
From guest Luke (contact)
i am doing this for coursework aswell. i think Blake is very negative because he is walking around at midnight so he has a specific and detailed view. where as William wordsworth in 'composed upon westminster bridge' was written at dawn so wordsworth would have had a hazy view over the horizon and would not have witnessed any poverty that Blake describes!!! -
poem
From guest phoebe (contact)
i love this poem too! im doing an essay on it, contrsating it and william wordsworths 'composed upon a westminister bridge, september 3rd, 1802'. was wondering if anyone had any tips? it's gcse coursework!!! pls help! thanx xxx -
From guest sam (contact)
i think william blake is trying to point out the horrible parts of london and looking at all the bad views of it in a very negative way. he is forgetting about the good parts of london aswell and is trying to create a sense of fear when he says in every infants cry of fear -
I think it describes London in days of yesteryear very aptly, so depressing, an image of London during the eighteenth and ninteenth centureis, so long ago. I wonder what his description would be of London today? We shall never ever know. I like the poem very much and it makes us realize how very lucky we are to live in this day and age.
Today London is full of life and energy and not as depressing as it was then. Most peoples lives in those days must have been very depressing too.
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I do very much love this poem. It is both slightly political and yet depressing at the same time. I believe it is due to Blake's upbringing as to why he has such a negative view of London. Being part of the Romanticism he believed that money, trade and the industrial revolution corrupted people.
I had to compare it to 'Symphony in Yellow' by Oscar Wilde and the two poems could not have been different. And Wilde being part of the Aesthetic movement is a big part in that
An extract from what I wrote about it for an English essay about the poem in case it helps anyone:
'In ‘London’ Blake creates a horrible image of London.
He talks of the streets being ‘chartered’, which can be taken a few ways, but both create the same image. It could mean that they belonged to the city of London and was forced to obey certain rules, but had certain rights too, which could be Blake’s way of saying that those streets were the best off and yet they were still terrible and tied down by rules. However, it could also just be saying that they are confined and restricted. In this line Blake also uses an oxymoron because he says that he ‘wandered through each chartered street’ which is self-contradictory. If something is chartered and restricted it would be impossible to wander because wandering suggests freedom. By using this oxymoron it would appear that Blake is trying to show that he is fighting against the restrictions and sees himself as being free from all that ties down the people of London.
The theme of being restricted continues throughout the poem when he says ‘the mind-forged manacles I hear’. This is very vivid imagery, which describes how people are effectively chained to a certain idea and there is no escaping it. People would not ever think of living any other way, it is quite obviously an idea that Blake was against. Blake was a very opinionated man and believed that people should think for themselves.
In the second quatrain Blake uses ‘cry’ a lot along with ‘fear’. This is emotive language that causes the reader to feel saddened for those who live in London. He also uses ‘in every’ at the beginning of three of the lines.
Also, later on, Blake describes the churches as ‘blackening’. There are many ways to look at this description. He may be trying to point out that the churches are meant to be important but even they have been neglected, or it may have a more philosophical or religious significance. In the same quatrain Blake says ‘The hapless soldier’s sigh runs in blood down Palace walls.’ This links with the French revolution with blood literally running down palace walls, showing Blake’s political views, but it also could just be him expressing that all blood spilled by English soldiers was in the hands of the palace, thus it metaphorically running down palace walls.
In the last quatrain Blake talks of the deaths that were caused by people sleeping with prostitutes and catching venereal diseases. He describes it as being a ‘plague’. He also has another great image here by saying ‘Marriage hearse’ and ‘Youthful harlot’s curse’. This creates the image that marrying these men, who have been cursed by having relationships with the prostitutes, just leads to certain death. During this quatrain he creates emotion with the line ‘blasts the new-born infant’s tear’, which has been added to cause reaction with anyone who reads it. '
Edited on Jan 24, 1:22 p.m. because ''. -
One of the best poems ever, if not the best. Expresses the poets absolute indignation at the way working people were treated at the time, and his disgust at the filth and poverty of industrial age London. Compare this to 'Westminster Bridge' by Wordsworth and you get a sense of how great Blake was in comparison. Blake deals with the issues facing ordinary people with integrity and doesn't gloze over the horrors he sees around him. Wordsworth on the other hand, writes a disgracefully cloying panegyric to what was, essentially a den of iniquity and vice. How then is Blake still so unfairly ignored by the vast majority, while Wordsworth's work is quoted by every sentimental pseudo-romantic poetaster at least a thousand times a day?
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Meaning:
The poet is quite easy to understand meaning-wise, as the poet writes about the things he sees, hears and feels as he walks through the London streets. However, the initial meaning is not the only one this poem has to offer. The poet tries to represent the Londoners' sorrow in his words, as he talks about the contrast between rich and poor, and so, brings out the harsh realitites faced everyday by the oppressed. The poem shows hints of the sense of rebellion the people of Blake's times were feeling against the church and royalty, both of which were ignoring the rest of the country's cry for help.
Technical:
The piece is composed of four quatrains, and each line is eight sylables long. The rhythm of the poem, added to the alternate rhyme, bring out the sense of monotony and restriction the poet feels as he walks through the "chartered" streets.
It is interesting to note that the author divides the poem in this particular and appealing way:
First stanza : appeals to sense of sight
Second stanza : appeals to the sense of sound
Third stanza : appeals to the sense of sight and sound
Fourth stanza : appeals to the sense of sound
Hence, the poet plays around with senses and appeals to the readers in many different dimensions.
Diction:
in terms of wording, the poem is very strong, and relies on a lot of imagery to portray its meaning graphically. The use of repeated words such as "marks", "chartered" and "every" serve to stress certain points in the poem, and add to the sense of apathy the poet feels. Some words also create a lot of contrast, such as soft, calm words like "flow", "woe" "sigh" and "cry", which when put against others with harsher connotations, like "plagues", "blackening" and "ban" create a gulf between the two worlds represented in the poem.
Opinion:
A beautiful poem which is so rich in all the ways a poem should be. It's technically sound, appeals to the senses, sounds amazing wen read around and means something important. What more could I ask for in a poem?
Edited on Nov 15, 11:53 because ''. -
Wonderful poem by Blake. He manages ot describe hoe the people of london and hoe london it self had been affected by Industrilisation.
Comparing it to Wordworth's work,you get a glimpse of london in the early days. -
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