London

Question 1

```

Context:
1. author
2. motive
3. year
4. inspiration
5. religion

Answer 1

1. William Blake
2. Appalled by living conditions in London
3. 1794 published
4. inspired by the french revolution and believed that a similar revolution should be done if conditions don’t improve
5. against religion- believes that it does not do enough to combat inequality- shows his view in S3

Question 2

summary of London

Answer 2

narrator walks around London
describes what he sees, hears everywhere wihch is opression and misery.
attacks the organisations which cause this inescapable sense of misery such as the church and the palace

Question 3

type of poem (2) + why

Answer 3

it is a ballad, written to make it memorable and resonate with the reader

dramatic monolgue- one narrator showing the passion with which he feels about london as he reveals more about his views

Question 4

rhyme and rhythm

Answer 4

rhyme- ABAB rhyme scheme- unbroken and relentless misery of the city. can’t break out of it, representing the trapped nature of people in the city

rhythm- regular and reflects the narrator’s monotonous trudging around London.

Question 5

narrator + impact

Answer 5

first person narration- personal and passionate
anonymous- could be anyone.

Question 6

structure of stanzas

Answer 6

4 quatrains-
first 2 = what he sees and hears
third = attack institutions
fourth = focus back on people

Question 7

‘I —— through each ——– street’
+ link to themes: loss / experience / power of humans

Answer 7

I wander thorugh each chartered street
Wander = aimlessness and lack of purpose in life-dumbfounded, perplexed etc
chartered = privately owned- he is powerless in the city he lives in

shows a LOSS of identity in his INDIVIDUAL character as he EXPERIENCES life without a purpose due to HUMANS WHO HAVE ABUSED THEIR POWER

Question 8

‘m—- of w———, m—- of w–’
‘in —— ……. in —— ……. in ——’

meanings
power of humans (2 ways)
meaning of repition

Answer 8

marks of weakness, marks of woe
everyone he meets display the marks of oppression due to the controlling nature of humans- permanent physical damage
in every x3
anaphoric start in stanza 2- used as rhetoric to persuade the reader of his POV alternatively, the repitition in general is used to show how many people are impacted by opression and shows how so many lives can be affected due to the power of a select group of humans

Question 9

‘m— - f—— m——- I hear’
meaning & significance
+ themes: loss, power of humans, experience

Answer 9

mind-forged manacles I hear
people are trapped by societal norms and rules, imposed upon humans. metaphor which demonstrates mental opression. on the other hand shows how these are physically holding London back.

shows humans are powerless both physicaly and mentally in Victorian England which is both Blake’s experience and society experience. Absence of freedom.

Question 10

stanza 3: meaning
‘ch—– - sw—–’s —’
‘black’ning —— ——-‘
‘——- soldier’s sigh’
‘Runs in —— down ——- walls’

+ themes: power of humans + anger +loss

Answer 10

chimney-sweep’s cry
emotive image of child labour, humans exploiting children
black’ning church appals
ex[licitly = industrial black
implicit = anger at the church- shoud be white- pure but are black- impure. moral. not doing enough to help
And the happless soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down palace walls
while it explicitly shows the widespread death conflict shows at first glance Blake also believes that when a revolution occurs, innocent, helpless soldiers will die while those in power remain safe- protected by palace walls

Triplet of child labour, church and palace = rehtoric which demonstrates his ANGER at institution (not doing their job), loss of authority in London

Question 11

‘yo—— harlot’s c—-‘
‘b—– with p—— the m——- h—–’

Answer 11

youthful harlot’s curse
innocence of youth juxtaposed with sordidness of prostitution & also prostitutes are a curse on London who are exploited by humans
blights with plagues the marriage hearse
comparison of plague= uncontrollable death (also a consequence of mismanagement)
alternatively
marriage hearse = oxymoron of marriage and funeral- showing everything destroyed & how men kill of their marriage by exploiting youthful harlots

Question 12

how does Blake describe power of humans

Answer 12

1. Power of men as distrubing- destroying marriage
2. Opression of humans is evil- force child labour
3. Actions of humans has left people trapped. ABAB rhyme + mental trapped.

Overall makes his city unrecognisable as he wanders through

Question 13

how does Blake represent his anger

Answer 13

1. dramatic monologue and ballad- shows his passion for change
2. anger directed towards institutions like church. attacks them
3. anger shown by the use of rhetoric devices like repition to emphasise widespread destruction
4. anger should be channeled - revolution: could ultimately run in blood down palace walls unless something done to change

Question 14

how does Blake portray his individual experience

Answer 14

1. first person narrative- highlights his experience
2. sensory imagery- “I hear” repeated to portray london as depressing- deepens our connection with his experience
3. concludes poem by saying the indiviudual opression he feels is shared amongst others - harlots, new borns, chimney sweepers
4. his experience is he is helpless- wander = aimlessness which is shared by hapless soldiers

Question 15

how is loss presented

Answer 15

1. Loss of freedom in society
2. Loss of authority in the church
3. Loss of morals- child labour
4. Loss of respect by men- marriage hearse
5. Loss of identity- everything ‘charter’d’ not individual