Page 2: Analysis of "London" by William Blake
This page delves into William Blake's poem "London," offering a comprehensive London poem analysis and exploring its themes of social injustice and urban suffering. The poem is presented with annotations highlighting key literary devices and contextual information.
Context: Blake wrote "London" during the Industrial Revolution, a time of significant social and economic change in England.
The poem begins with the speaker wandering through the "chartered" streets of London, observing the marks of "weakness" and "woe" on the faces of its inhabitants. Blake uses repetition and powerful imagery to emphasize the pervasive nature of suffering in the city.
Vocabulary: Anaphora - The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
Blake employs anaphora with the repeated use of "In every" to stress the universality of the city's problems. The poem touches on various social issues, including child labor, corruption in the church, and the plight of soldiers.
Quote: "And the hapless soldier's sigh / Runs in blood down palace walls."
This vivid image connects the suffering of soldiers to the institutions of power, suggesting a critique of war and governance.
The poem concludes with a powerful stanza about prostitution and its impact on marriage and family life, highlighting the interconnected nature of social problems in the city.
Highlight: The final line, "And blights with plagues the marriage hearse," combines images of disease, marriage, and death to emphasize the destructive cycle of poverty and exploitation.