London by William Blake

William Blake, London

London by William Blake is a poem characterised by its dark and overbearing tone. It is a glimpse at a period of England 's history (particularly London) during war and poverty, experienced by the narrator as he walks through the streets. Using personification it draws a great human aspect to its representation of thoughts and beliefs of the narrator.

The author uses a rhyme scheme that mirrors the pace of walking. The pace is moderate using an octameter meter, and each stressed syllable is like each footfall of the narrator. As he walks through the streets near the near the River Thames, he notices the common distress in the faces of the people he passes along the way. The author uses alliteration in line four, "marks", "weakness" and "woe". It draws emphasis on the feeling of severity and the widespread effect on these people.

The narrator starts to envision that the people around him are all chained in "manacles". They are enslaved by the country and disastrous world they live in. Their fears, curses ("ban") and cries of their current state are shared. The word "mind-forg 'd" gives one the feeling that these people 's minds have formed these ‘shackles ' that inhibit them. The author states this by starting lines five to seven with "In every", and repeating the word "every". He emphasises the fact that every man, woman and child is affected by this shared state. Personification in the words "Man" and "Infant" draws importance to the general race/gender meaning of the words, further strengthening this universal aspect of his idea.

The third stanza expands on the idea of this shared ‘mental slavery '. The narrator speaks of what could symbolise the lower or working class ("the Chimney-sweeper"), crying out against the system, and the upper class ("Church") subduing them. Both the chimney and church are personified to symbolise the people they represent. This dominance is also related in the personification of "Soldier" and "Palace". The soldiers fight the wars that the monarchy decides, their blood on the King and Queen 's hands. They sigh as to their shared plight, but their sighs only end in their deaths. This stanza 's rhythm is different in that it follows a heptameter meter. Its pace is faster, which might reflect an increase in excitement by the narrator in what might be anger.

In the last stanza, the narrator witnesses the young "Harlot" (prostitute) cursing and reprimanding ("Blasts") the infant 's cries and "tears" at what could be the result of being fatherless. The soldiers ' deaths leaving mothers widowed, turning the joyful occasion of marriage (also personified) into a depressing event ("the Marriage hearse). This stanza has a very different rhyme structure to the previous ones. It is half octameter and heptameter, making it slightly off beat. Lines thirteen and sixteen are slower (octameter), while lines thirteen and sixteen (heptameter) have a rapid, excited tone.
Although written long ago, before the twentieth century, London echoes a theme recurrent in present history. Poverty is still shared by many third world nations, while all through the twentieth century men went to war only to leave widows and fatherless children.

REFERENCES:

Blake, William. 1794. London. In Songs of Experience. Pp 216.

References: Blake, William. 1794. London. In Songs of Experience. Pp 216.