London Flashcards
Who made London
William Blake
When was London made
1794
Its metre
Iambic tetrameter
Its tone
Desperate, claustrophobic, and critical
Analysis
The poem paints a picture of London as a claustrophobic city, in which the speaker is miserable. All the residents of London, men, women, children, cry out in misery. The poem is critical of the growing industry in London and sees it as a tool of enslavement.
Rhyme scheme
Alternating rhymes or ABAB
Where does it come from
It belongs to the poetry collection Songs of Experience of the complete volume titled Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794
What influenced him to write the poem
William Blake lived most of his life in London, and witnessed the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Born to a family of dissenters, while being deeply religious, Blake was critical of organised religion and the Church of England
What influenced him to write the poem
William Blake lived most of his life in London, and witnessed the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Born to a family of dissenters, while being deeply religious, Blake was critical of organised religion and the Church of England
The poem consists of 4
Quatrins
Loss of innocence in London
During Blake’s time, most chimney sweepers in London were orphaned children. Additionally, the speaker mentions infants, who in their infancy already know pain and misery, and also how ‘youthful’ and young girls are forced to turn to prostitution to sustain themselves, further marking the loss and corruption of innocence and childhood.
Chart’d
Owned and controlled by the rich and wealthy
‘mind forged manacles’
Internal weakness and oppression due to the higher class causing them to suffer
It is told from a
First person speaker
London is a…
Dramatic monologue
