London- William Blake Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is the poem about?
London: a protest poem Blake wrote to illustrate how london the city he loved was changing beyond recognition due to industrialisation.
He wanted to show how many people had been lost/ forgotten by those of wealth and power.
What are the themes of the poem?
Corruption, abuse of power and the fallen state of mankind.
First person narrator personalises the poem and makes it feel more real and believable:
“ I wander through each chartered street”
> sounds purposeless
What quote shows that not everything can be controlled
“ where the charted Thames does flow”
> people in power cannot control nature and absolutely everything
What quote shows the great distress the people of London are in?
“ marks of weakness, marks of woe “
> repetition of marks suggests how much this change in government and overall change is effecting people.
What quote emphasises the falling of despair and pain in London and how there is no relief from it?
Anaphoric refrain of every implies that not once person isn’t effected by this change in lifestyle, right down to small children> UBIQUITOUS- EVERYWHERE
“ In every cry of every man,
In every infants cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban”
What quotation has connotations of imprisonment and restriction?
“ the mind- forged manacles I hear” - compound adjective of - “ mind- forged”
> shows how people are trapped by thoughts and attitudes by others
> manacles- used for restraining prisoners
> suggests that everyone was forced to think the same and have the same opinion.
STRUCTURE POINT: what is the acrostic message shown in stanza 2?
HEAR: implies that Blake is trying to give peoples voices a voice that wouldn’t be able to speak up in this time.
> essentially a cry for help?
What quote shows that people of higher hierarchy were abusing others?
“ runs in blood down palace walls” > walls built to keep people of lower classes out.
ANOTHER POINT OF THIS QUOTE IN OTHER CARD.
CONNECTED TO “ runs in blood down palace walls” TO “ the hapless soldiers sigh”
“And the hapless soldiers sigh” - sibilance
> unlucky- hapless
> helpless soldier who has to give his life, his “blood”, in service to those in power.
>In contrast, the “Palace walls” protect the powerful, including the royal family, from danger or death.
