The horrors which prevail in a poem such as William Blake’s ‘London’ are portrayed through its form and meter as well as a number of specific techniques designed to encompass the senses and play on the mysteries of the human mind. Through the use of repetition, constant references to sound and extravagant metaphors, Blake manages to successfully explore the darkness within a specific location- the streets of 18th century London.
The poem follows a sequence of rhyme in an iambic tetrametric format consisting of four quatrains which detail the speaker’s thoughts as they walk the streets of what appears to be a very dismal perspective of London. Though the opening of the poem follows the regularities of the usual iamb (an unstressed syllable followed
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Here, ‘marks’ is presented in two different ways: both as a verb to encourage the listener to look and also as a noun for the metaphorical blemishes on the faces of the people the speaker describes. Repetition occurs throughout the course of the poem, in a way which almost seems to signify the repetitive nature of life and also to reflect the tight, almost claustrophobic city which Blake describes. Language which accentuates this constriction can be identified by the use of repetition in earlier lines of ‘charter’d’ and also in the singular uses of ‘manacles’ and ‘ban’. The split in the poem between lines which contain seven syllables and lines which contain eight is almost directly proportionate. This split in the text reflects the broken society the poet speaks of. There is also no lack of alliteration and assonance within Blake’s poem- there are two examples in the third stanza alone wherein it proclaims ‘How the Chimney-sweepers cry/ Every blackning Church appalls,/ And the hapless Soldiers sigh/ Runs in blood down Palace walls’. The connection between the impoverished, endangered ‘chimney-sweepers’ and the …show more content…
Stanza two introduces the listener to such imagery by saying ‘In every cry of every Man,/ In every Infants cry of fear,/ In every voice: in every ban,/ The mind-forg’d manacles I hear’. The use of anaphora in the first three lines builds emphasis towards the gripping metaphor of the last line. In his analysis of ‘London’, Morris Eaves suggests that ‘the mind-forg’d manacles’ are ‘[…] invisible in the social and institutional forces of their forging; it is their consequences, a city where “every Man” […] cries in pain before sighing into death, that is the devastating recognition’. The suggestion here is that people are slaves to their own mind and not one single social group or institution can be blamed for the grief caused by an individual’s psychology. The capitalisation of ‘Man’ and ‘Infants’ and, later, ‘Church’, ‘Soldiers’ and ‘Palace’ suggests that these are all equals and all subject to their own mental
The theme of the suffering innocent person, dying and being diseased, throws a dark light onto the London seen through the eyes of William Blake. He shows us his experiences, fears and hopes with passionate images and metaphors creating a sensibility against oppression hypocrisy. His words come alive and ask for changes in society, government and church. But they remind us also that the continued renewal of society begins with new ideas, imagination and new works in every area of human experience.
angered him and inspired him to convey his ideas and feelings through the poem 'London'. In the poem, Blake travels through London and describes what he sees. And as a result, he sees a severely oppressed society that is caused by the authority, such as royalty, and the church. This is as Blake sees. that even the streets and the thames are 'chartered' and governed.
Natoli, Joseph. "William Blake." Critical Survey Of Poetry, Second Revised Edition (2002): 1-12. Literary Reference Center. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
I am a Clearly, Blake does not like London, and uses imagery to show this. With use of repetition, vivid images of the dirty, and miserable place. he sees are created. Wordsworth, however, has a very different approach to London. He sees it as the finest place on Earth, and that never before has he seen a. place that really is so beautiful as London.
The imagery of nature and humanity intermingling presents Blake's opinion on the inborn, innate harmony between nature and man. The persona of the poem goes on to express the `gentle streams beneath our feet' where `innocence and virtue meet'. This is where innocence dwells: synchronization with nature, not synchronization with industry where `babes are reduced to misery, fed with a cold usurous hand' as in the experienced version of `Holy Thursday'. The concept of the need for the individual's faithfulness to the laws of nature and what is natural is further reiterated in `the marriage of heaven and hell' in plate 10 where Blake states `where man is not, nature is barren'. The most elevated form of nature is human nature and when man resists and consciously negates nature, `nature' becomes `barren'. Blake goes on to say `sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires'. This harks back to `the Songs of Innocence' `A Cradle Song' where the `infants smiles are his own smiles'. The infant is free to act out its desires as it pleases. It is unbound, untainted. Blake's concern is for the pallid and repressed, subjugated future that awaits the children who must `nurse unacted desires' and emotions in this new world of industrialisation. Despairingly, this is restated again in `the mind-forg'd manacles' of `London'. The imagery of the lambs of the `Songs of Innocence' `Introduction' is developed in `the Chimney Sweeper' into the image of `Little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, that curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd'.
The location of the poem contributes greatly to each citizen's frame of mind because surroundings influence how people react in their environment. "London" is described as confined, creating the illusion that the citizens are trapped in their misery. "I wander thro' each charter'd street, / Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,..." During Blake's time, the word "charter'd" carried the denotative definition of restriction and confinement creating an image of a city that only allows limited movement and freedom. The repetition of the word "charter'd" emphasizes how cramped the city is. Even a river, a part of nature known to be free, is kept imprisoned and res...
In this poem, Blake is trying to dispel the myth of grandeur and glory associated with London and to show the 'real' people of London and how they felt. London was seen and portrayed as a powerful and wonderful city where the wealthy lived and socialised. However, Blake knew that London was really a dirty, depressing and poverty-stricken city filled with slums and the homeless and chronically sick. To reveal the truth, Blake combines description of people and places with the thoughts and emotions of the people. For example, the second stanza says:"In every cry of every Man,In every Infants cry of fear,In every voice: in every ban,The mind forg'd manacles I hear"Blake combines the descriptions of the crying baby and man with the observation that the people oppress their hopes and dreams, figuratively 'chaining up their minds' because they know that they will never be able to achieve their dreams. Another Example is in the third stanza when Blake describes the crying chimney-sweep and then the "blackning church", but is really saying that the church does not want to dirty its hands by helping the soot-covered [black] chimney sweep. Therefore, a "blackning church" is one that helps the common, dirty people, and Blake says that "every blackning church appalls", showing that the aristocracy and those in positions of power did not want the church that they supported associating with the common people.Throughout the poem, Blake uses fairly simple language, punctuated with the occasional obscure word, but generally the more common words, probably to appeal to the common people who he was supporting through this poem.In writing this poem, Blake is trying to make the reader understand the truth about London and understand about the 'real' people, and he is also encouraging the church, and the aristocracy to help the common people and to support them instead of pushing them away and disregarding them.
In the first poem, 'Westminster' this person is visiting London for the first time, he is not shown the reality of London but a slightly obscured view of beauty, as the light is reflecting off buildings, and giving an impression of calm, peace and tranquility. 'The beauty of the morning, silent, bare.' The reason we can guess for his delusion of the city is the fact that he is seeing it in 'the m...
like, and peace in his view towards Westminster Bridge. In the first two lines Blake expresses clear dislike in the way the Thames has been treated well. In the first line he gives the word charter'd. meaning by saying that the streets are "each charter'd street". gives the meaning of "mapped".
Comparing the Poets' Use of Language To Present Their View of London in Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by Wordsworth and London by Blake
Percy Shelley is known as one of the greatest romantic poets of his time and is also noted as one of the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley’s work “Men of England” talks about the dispute between two classes in England, rich and the poor, and discusses how the working class should bind together to have a revolution. The poem mentions England’s government at the time and how their king, George III, is going insane. This poem will be compared and contrasted with William Blake’s “London” which talks about the disparaging situation that London is facing due to the prior generation’s mistakes made by the government. Some comparisons that will be demonstrated are the talk about the lower class of society in both poems as well as the discouraging tone that both poems present. In contrast, the speakers in the poem are on different subjects such as the speaker in “Men of England” calling for a revolution of the poor nobles and the speaker in “London” making the public realize what shambles the city of London is in.
Upon first reading one of London’s most distinguishable feature is the rhythm that is evoked by the closed structure of the poem. London’s text is divided into four stanzas each containing four lines. The four lines in the each stanza follow a pattern of repeated syllable count which features the corresponding lines from each stanza having identical syllable counts. Another structural device that Blake employs is an ABAB rhyming scheme at the end of every line, which is what brings out the poem’s steady beat. Together these structural choices develop a chant-like rhythm that brings out emotion from both side of the poem’s message. On one hand this chant like rhythm creates a feeling of conformity and industry, which is a reflection of the industrial revolution and the power of the government. However, the chant also can be seen as a representation of ...
The poems ‘lines composed on Westminster Bridge’ and ‘London’ are created by William Wordsworth and William Blake respectively. Wordsworth’s work originated in the eighteenth century and he himself lived in the countryside, and rarely visited large cities such as London. This is reflected on his poem, making it personal to his experience in London, however William Blake on the other hand had a vast knowledge of London and was actually a London poet, which allowed him to express his views of London from a Londoner’s point of view. I therefore will be examining comparisons in both poems, as well as their contrasting views of London and the poetic devices used to express their opinions.
William Blake uses repetition throughout the poem in multiple circumstances. The first time he uses repetition is in the first and second lines of the first stanza. Blake repeats the term “charter’d” to describe both the street and the Thames River. Both being described in this way makes the audience have the idea that London is a strict, governed area that may have
Blake starts his poem with I wander thro’ each charter’d street. Near where the charter’d Thames flows. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. Immediately, Blake had us wandering through the charter’d street, wandering through the charter’d Thames. Here, “charter’d” means “founded, privileged, protected by charter” (Oxford English Dictionary).