London Flashcards
How does the poem begin and what does this reveal?
‘I wander thro’ each charter’d street, // near where the charter’d Thames does flow’ Wander seems purposeless suggesting he feels powerless in changing the state of society. Streets are controlled/mapped out into classes by the government suggesting we are just cogs in a machine, even powerful natural features like the Thames are under control and affected by city problems
Identify a use of anaphora in the second stanza
‘In every cry of every Man, // In every Infants cry of fear, // In every voice: in every ban’
What does the anaphora reveal?
Feeling of bleakness, despair affects everyone and there is no relief from it, suffering surrounds him. Passionate voice because this is a protest poem
What is the poem about?
Protest poem because Blake exploits social corruption by writing in the hyperbole in order to frighten his readers into changing. The persona is arguably Blake himself as social commentator, he openly expresses his distaste at the state of society which makes the poem fairly controversial as he is attacking institutions
Identify a metaphor in the second stanza, what does this reveal?
‘mind-forg’d manacles’. People are trapped in every way, even by thoughts and attitudes
Identify a possible reference to the French Revolution in the third stanza
‘And the hapless soldier’s sigh // runs in blood down place walls’ Contrast between ordinary people and royalty- ordinary suffer whilst royalty are protected in palace walls
Identify a use of contrasts (an oxymoron) in the last stanza, what does this reveal?
‘How the youthful harlots curse’ Contrast between innocence of youth and sordidness of prostitution. Contrasts are used to show that nothing pure of innocent remains because everything is affected
How does the poem end?
‘And blights with plagues the marriage hearse’. Oxymoron links a happy image with death suggesting everything has been destroyed. Blights and plagues (plosive sounds) reveal something is uncontrollable and affects lots of people
How is the poem structured and why?
ABAB rhyme scheme is unbroken which seems to echo the relentless misery of the city - no opportunity for change, regular rhythm reflects his feet as he trudges around
