London Flashcards
(10 cards)
context
- Blake was a visionary poet, artist and radical thinker
- he lived during a period of significant social and political upheaval, including the industrial revolution
- Blake was deeply critical of institutions of his time - such as the monarchy, the Church, and the government - which he saw as complicit in the oppression and suffering of the poor
- In the late 18th century, London was undergoing rapid industrialization, leading to significant urban growth
-> This transformation brought about overcrowded living conditions, widespread poverty, and the exploitation of labor, including child labor
-> Blake’s poem captures the grim realities of this era, highlighting the suffering and moral decay resulting from unchecked industrial progress - Blake was acutely aware of the stark social inequalities of his time
-> He observed how institutions like the Church and the monarchy often perpetuated oppression rather than alleviating it
form and structure
- Quatrains and Rhyme Scheme: The poem consists of four quatrains (four-line stanzas) with a consistent ABAB rhyme scheme. This regular structure contrasts with the chaotic and oppressive content, perhaps highlighting the inescapable nature of societal control.
- Iambic Tetrameter: Blake employs iambic tetrameter, a rhythmic pattern of four iambs per line. However, he introduces variations and disruptions in the meter, which may reflect the discomfort and unrest experienced by the city’s inhabitants.
= First-Person Perspective: The poem is narrated by a speaker who wanders through the streets of London, providing a personal and observational account of the city’s suffering. This perspective invites readers to witness the bleak realities alongside the speaker
language and imagery
- “Charter’d”:
-> The repetition of “charter’d” in “charter’d street” and “charter’d Thames” suggests that even natural elements like the river are subjected to human control and ownership, symbolizing the pervasive loss of freedom. - “Marks of weakness, marks of woe”:
-> The repetition of “marks” emphasizes the visible signs of suffering etched into the faces of the people, indicating that despair is both widespread and deeply ingrained. - “Mind-forg’d manacles”:
-> This metaphor implies that the constraints experienced by individuals are not only physical but also mental, imposed by societal norms and institutions that limit free thought and self-expression. - “Black’ning Church”:
-> The imagery of the “black’ning Church” serves as a critique of religious institutions, suggesting moral corruption and a failure to address the needs of the oppressed. - “Runs in blood down Palace walls”:
-> This stark image associates the monarchy with violence and oppression, implying that the ruling class is complicit in the suffering and bloodshed of the people. - “Youthful Harlot’s curse” and “blights with plagues the Marriage hearse”:
-> These lines convey the destructive impact of societal decay on personal relationships and the innocence of youth, with the oxymoron “Marriage hearse” symbolizing the death of purity and joy in union
themes
- Oppression and Control:
-> The poem explores how institutions exert control over individuals, leading to widespread suffering and the erosion of personal freedoms. - Social Injustice:
-> Blake highlights the plight of the marginalized—children, soldiers, and prostitutes—emphasizing the systemic neglect and exploitation they endure. - Moral and Institutional Corruption:
-> The poem criticizes the Church and the monarchy for their roles in perpetuating inequality and failing to uphold moral responsibilities. - Loss of Innocence:
-> The imagery of children crying and the “Marriage hearse” suggests a society where innocence is corrupted, and traditional values are undermined by pervasive decay
literary techniques
Repetition: The use of repeated words and phrases, such as “charter’d” and “every,” reinforces the ubiquity of control and suffering throughout the city.
Alliteration: Phrases like “mind-forg’d manacles” employ alliteration to create a rhythmic emphasis on key concepts, enhancing their impact.
Metaphor: Blake uses metaphors like “mind-forg’d manacles” to convey complex ideas about psychological and societal constraints.
Oxymoron: The term “Marriage hearse” juxtaposes the concepts of union and death, symbolizing the destructive consequences of societal corruption on personal relationships.
Sensory Imagery: The poem is rich in visual and auditory imagery, immersing the reader in the bleak atmosphere of London and evoking emotional responses to the depicted suffering
quotations
‘charter’d street’ and ‘charter’d Thames’
‘every black’ning Church appalls’
‘hapless Soldier’s sign/Runs in blood down Palace walls’
‘youthful Harlot’s curse/Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear’
‘charter’d street’ and ‘charter’d Thames’
1. semantic field of ownership and restriction
- “Chartered” originally means “granted by royal or corporate charter”—i.e. legally owned, divided, regulated.
- By applying it to natural and civic spaces, Blake suggests that every part of the city—from its streets to its great river—has been commodified and fenced in by law.
- The world of “freedom” is in fact enclosed, bought‑and‑sold; human movement and even nature itself are subject to commercial or bureaucratic control.
2. Juxtaposition of natural and artificial
- A river is archetypically a symbol of organic life, renewal and freedom; yet here the “Thames” is as confined as a man‑made alley.
- This oxymoronic pairing intensifies Blake’s critique: England’s economic and political powers have not merely corrupted people, but have turned the lifeblood of the nation into another asset to be chartered.
3. Phonetic resonance and rhythm
- The harsh “ch-” in charter’d, echoed in “church” later, creates a percussive, almost industrial sound—far from any pastoral idyll.
- The apostrophe in “charter’d” both preserves Blake’s metrical scheme (iambic tetrameter) and visually hints at something clipped or truncated: liberty itself is diminished.
4. Irony and social commentary
- A charter is meant to guarantee rights; Blake subverts this: these “charter’d” spaces actually deny rights.
- The irony underscores the hypocrisy of a system that prides itself on legal guarantees while imprisoning its own citizens in “mind‑forg’d manacles.”
Taken together, these two images succinctly introduce the poem’s central theme: that in late‑eighteenth‑century London, law and commerce have transformed even the most public, life‑giving spaces into sites of oppression
‘every black’ning Church appalls’
Juxtaposition of physical and moral defilement
- Black’ning literally evokes the sooty stain of chimney‑sweepers’ breath, but also implies moral corruption.
- By staining the walls, the physical soot becomes a metaphor for the Church’s own hypocrisy—its sacred walls sullied by the institution’s complicity in child‑labour abuse.
Loaded diction and irony
- Church carries spiritual authority and purity.
- Pairing it with black’ning creates dramatic irony: the very place meant to offer comfort and redemption is shown to be complicit in cruelty.
- Blake indicts the Church by suggesting it is more concerned with appearances (a clean façade) than with true Christian charity.
Sonic texture reinforcing disgust
- The harsh “b” and “k” plosives in black’ning and Church deliver a jarring, abrasive effect—mirroring the grime being splashed across hallowed walls.
- Appalls (from Latin appallēre, to grow pale) then snaps the reader back to the emotional response: horror tinged with revulsion.
Enjambment and emphasis
- Blake runs “Every black’ning Church” directly into “appalls,” so the eye/ear is carried from the image of defilement straight into the reaction of outrage.
- This flow enacts the very shock he describes, making us complicit in witnessing the crime.
Social critique in condensed form
- In four words, Blake indicts both industry (child‑sweeping) and institution (the Church).
- He refuses to separate economic exploitation from religious sanction—showing that systemic injustice requires collusion across all social pillars.
Taken together, this line crystallizes Blake’s central charge: that an institution built on notions of spiritual purity has become stained—literally and metaphorically—by its own failure to protect the vulnerable
‘hapless Soldier’s sign/Runs in blood down Palace walls’
Diction and Connotation
- Hapless (“luckless,” “helpless”) immediately casts the soldier as a victim of forces beyond his control—poverty, press‑gangs or conscription.
- Sigh is an intimate, almost inaudible exhalation of grief and fatigue, emphasising his frailty and emotional torment.
Metaphor and Vivid Imagery
- Blake transforms that private “sigh” into a torrent of blood—a startling metaphor that fuses sound and sight into violence.
- The image of blood “running” makes his pain concrete and physical.
- The Palace walls, symbols of royal power and privilege, become the canvas for this blood‑shed, implicating the ruling class in the soldier’s suffering.
Juxtaposition of Private and Public
- A single soldier’s weary breath is magnified to stain the grand seat of government.
- Intimate grief becomes state‑level indictment: private sacrifice powering public spectacle.
Color and Symbolism
- Blood carries obvious connotations of death, injury and sacrifice—but also of loyalty (soldier’s “blood”) and the debt owed by the nation.
- The undoubted whiteness or opulence of palace walls—though unspoken—is mentally contrasted with this red stain, heightening the sense of defilement and hypocrisy.
Enjambment and Pace
- Blake breaks the line between “sigh” and “runs,” forcing the reader to pause on that hollow exhalation before confronting the gruesome aftermath.
- The pause mirrors the sudden shock of realising that personal anguish fuels the machinery of power.
Social and Political Commentary
- By showing the soldier’s life‑blood literally “running” down the halls of power, Blake indicts monarchy and government for building empires on the backs—and into the very walls—of the dispossessed.
It reflects contemporary anxieties (post‑Revolution Europe, oppressive militarism) and underscores Blake’s broader theme: that systems of authority thrive on exploited human suffering.
Together, these elements make this couplet one of the poem’s most devastating indictments—condensing private misery and systemic oppression into a single, blood‑soaked image
‘youthful Harlot’s curse/Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear’
Irony and Paradox
- Youthful Harlot conjures innocence corrupted.
- The word “youthful” suggests vitality and promise, yet “Harlot” evokes exploitation and shame.
- Blake uses this tension to show how society’s failings distort natural roles and affections.
Diction—“curse” vs. “tear”
- A curse is violent, malicious speech; a tear is passive, helpless sorrow.
- By letting the prostitute’s bitter exclamation blast (a forceful verb) the infant’s silent cry, Blake reverses moral expectations: the victim (infant) is further victimized by another victim (the harlot), underlining how social decay passes from one generation to the next.
Metaphor of contagion
- “Blasts” suggests a spreading plague or toxic wind.
- The harlot’s anguished cry doesn’t merely harm the baby—it poisons the very act of birth and nurture, implying that societal corruption is contagious and inescapable.
Enjambment and rhythmic shock
- The line break between “curse” and “Blasts” creates a sharp rhythmic jolt.
- You pause on the idea of a curse, then are hit by the active violence of “Blasts,” replicating the shock the infant must endure.
Social critique—cycle of exploitation
- Blake indicts a society that produces both the destitute prostitute and the vulnerable newborn.
- The “new‑born Infant’s tear” becomes a symbol of all potential innocence, and its obliteration by the harlot’s curse shows how systemic injustice erases hope before life can even begin.
Emotive sound‑play
- Harsh plosives in Harlot’s curse (H, K, T) contrast with the softer fricative in Infant’s tear (F, T).
- This sonic clash mirrors the violent encounter of two lives—one hardened, one fragile—underscoring the poem’s central theme of innocence under siege.
Together, these elements compress a generational tragedy into two lines: the prostitute’s suffering, born of social neglect, turns instinctual compassion (the infant’s tear) into another casualty of institutional failure.
