london

Question 1

overview

Answer 1

Blake describes what life is like in London for working class or poor people. Everything is described to be trapped in London with no way of escaping. This is not the impression that people at the time would’ve wanted because London was the heart of England and was made to look like it was thriving as industrialism was booming. Blake was a romantic poet and believed in writing the truth about places like these and stopping the spread of industrialism as it was negatively effecting civilians. It is quite a political poem as it is criticising major institutions like marriage,the church and the monarchy. The mood of the poem is very angry and it is supposed to sound like a war cry against the things he stands against. This is because Blake was very passionate about his beliefs.

Question 2

beginning

Answer 2

• The poet is walking through London ‘near where the charter’d Thames does flow.’ The word ‘charter’d’ means owned. This suggests that every part of London is owned and gives an impression of people being restricted because the working class and poor people don’t own anything. It also suggests that everyone is living repetitive lives because they are seeing the same thing everyday. The fact that even the Thames is owned suggests how even the river can’t flow freely because its owned by someone. This could reflect the lives of people who don’t own anything for themselves and therefore lack freedom.
• As the poet walks through London they can hear ‘mind-forg’d manacles’ in every person he passes. As he can hear these manacles in every person it suggests how there is universal suffering as everyone is unhappy and feels chained to London. The manacles are a metaphor for feeling trapped which suggests how no one is free in London. The manacles are ‘mind-forg’d’ which suggests how nothing is physically chaining them to London and it’s a mental barrier instead. Furthermore, this could suggest how the people in London are in chains because they can’t escape their situation, for example they are too poor.

Question 3

end

Answer 3

• The poet describes ‘how the chimney-sweepers cry every black’ning church appalls.’ The chimney sweepers are children which suggests how the poet is against child labour. However, the church ‘appalls’ which suggests how the church is disgusted by the chimney-sweepers because they are poor and considered inferior. This goes against the churches ‘morally good’ image as it suggests how they would rather turn their back on them than help them. The ‘black’ning church’ could show how the church is physically black because of pollution. However, it could be a metaphor to suggest how the church is corrupt.
• Finally, the poet describes a baby being born from a prostitute and will ‘blights with plagues the marriage hearse.’ This could suggest how the poet dislikes marriage because they compare it to a hearse and links marriage to death. The words ‘blights’ and ‘plagues’ emphasise the poets dislike for marriage as they compare it to a disease. The ‘plague’ described could be an STI that the father of the child could pass onto his wife and into the marriage. Furthermore, this could suggest that the poet thinks that marriage is dead because of unfaithfulness and, as many marriages at the time were arranged, not based on love.

Question 4

form & structure

Answer 4

• Uses iambic tetrameter – poem sounds like a war cry as Blake is anti-authority and is going against them.
• The short, broken up lines creates an angry tone
• Regular rhyme scheme makes the poem sound structured which links to industrialism and how everything looks the same so nothing is unique – repetitiveness links to the regularity that everyone is miserable.
• Stanza’s are all the same length – peoples lives are repetitive and boring.