London by William Blake | Structure, Summary, Analysis

London by William Blake | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. London is one of the most famous Illustrated Poems by William Blake that was included in his poetry collection Songs of Experience, published in 1794. His two most famous collections, Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794) have poems that are counterparts of each other. However, London is a unique poem expressing the disappointment of William Blake in the socio-political situation of London during that period. London is a political poem. Previously, Samuel Johnson wrote a long poem with the same title London in 1738. In that poem, Samual Johnson also described the various problems of London, including an emphasis on crime, corruption, and the squalor of the poor.

Blake’s poem is rather short with just 16 lines arranged in four quatrains. Yet, the poem illuminates the problems of London stressing the themes of the effects of Industrialization, Moral Corruption, Poverty, Exploitation of masses, and Universal suffering.

Blake analyzes the troubles faced by the common citizens of London streets. Surrounded by dejected Londoners, he saw evidence that the British government had too much power and little interest in helping those they were supposed to serve. He didn’t mince his words and vehemently blamed the government. Blake offers a damningly hellish image of the streets of London in this poem.

Structure of London:

London is a four-stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, known as quatrains following the rhyme scheme of ABAB throughout the poem. In the first stanza, the poet expresses the general sights of London streets while in the following three stanzas, he expresses the various sounds audible in these streets. In the third stanza, Blake used Acrostics making the first letter of the first word of each line into the word ‘HEAR.’ The poem is written from the first-person perspective of an anonymous speaker, who could be assumed to be Blake, walking through the streets of London. Blake used an iambic tetrameter for this poem. Blake has used Imagery, Metaphor, Caesura, Enjambment, Repetition, and Capitalization of words in the poem.

Context of London:

London was published during the “reign of terror”. The French Revolution became an inspiration for many radicals as it was a symbol of how the disenfranchised and oppressed could seize power from the privileged. It resulted in the end of the French monarchy, which is what Blake was hoping for in England, which ended when Louis XVI was executed in 1793. However, it was followed by a "reign of terror", with thousands executed via guillotine. England witnessed the surge of the Industrial Revolution and became an Industrial power. This resulted in a mass movement to cities from the countryside. However, this urbanization led to most of London being covered in smog from factories and industrialization. The government gave the wealthy exclusive rights to land and resources that had been previously owned in common, which meant the wealthy started owning monopolies of land. Blake emphasized those who have been hurt most by the capitalist structures that cause inequality within society, focusing on their misery.

Summary of London:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-4

“I wandered thro each chartered street,

Near where the charted Thames does flow,

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe”

The speaker begins while declaring that he is wandering around the streets of London, observing the situation of the people. He uses the word ‘Chartered’ which means that the streets and the landscape are controlled rigidly by the government that has offered exclusive rights to the rich capitalists over the land and resources (River Thames) that had been previously owned in common, which meant the wealthy started owning monopolies of land and resources. He mentions that he is not wandering around in a free, open area, rather it is a controlled mapped-out area. As he observes other common people on the streets, he observes marks of weariness in them all. He describes their faces as having “weakness” and “woe”.

The first stanza suggests that the tone of the poem is gloom, sadness, and melancholy.

Stanza 2 Lines 5-8

“In every cry of every man,

In every infant’s cry of fear,

In every choice, in every ban,

The mind-forged manacles I hear”

The speaker continues expressing the gloomy situation of poor people on the streets as he watches them pass him by. The speaker reveals that from the cry of the newborn infant to the cry of the full-grown man, he hears the “mind forg’d manacles”. Manacles are shackles or chains used to imprison someone. These manacles are not physical but ‘mind-forged’, that is, the people are imprisoned by the prevailing ideas and thoughts. People are not free, they are restricted, and banned from making free choices. The terms ‘ban’, ‘chartered’, and ‘manacles’ suggest that the authority and the society have metaphorically imprisoned the people.

Stanza 3 Lines 9-12

“How the chimney-sweeper's cry

Every blackening church appals;

And the hapless soldier's sigh

Runs in blood down palace walls.”

The first letter of the first word of the first line is ‘H’, that of the second line is ‘E’, that of the third line is ‘A’, and of the fourth line is ‘R’ which makes HEAR in vertical and that is the purpose of the speaker. He wishes the reader to hear the gloomy sighs and cries of poor people. The speaker shows his deep concern about poor people and humanity in general. He says that when society strips people of their freedom and shackles them in rigid exploitative ideas. He first mentions the Chimney sweeper, the poorest of the society. He was always dirty and inflicted by pollution that made him sick. The poor people of the lowest class were forced into this kind of work to provide for their families.

The speaker then criticizes the church, terming it ’blackening’ but even the corrupt church ‘appalls’ at Chimney-sweeper. Generally, Chimney-sweepers were used to be kids. They were small enough to fit down the chimneys. These children were often orphaned children. The church had the responsibility for their care and grooming, but they were forced to work in such difficult situations. This is why the speaker connects the gloomy ‘chimney-sweepers’ with the ‘blackening church,’ suggesting the corruption therein. He criticizes the society and the church for the conditions of the poor.

Next, he mentions the ‘hapless soldier’ turning his criticism on the government and suggesting that the soldiers are the poor victims of a corrupt government. He mentions the long-running blood bath of war that flows down the palace walls. The palace signifies the space of royalty and higher echelons of the society. The speaker blames the higher society and administration for spilling the blood of the soldiers to keep their comfort of living in a palace.

Stanza 4 Lines 13-16

"But most through midnight streets I hear

How the youthful harlot's curse

Blasts the new-born infant's tear,

And blights with plagues the marriage hearse"

In the last stanza, the speaker mentions the moral degradation of the society at large. He mentions that he hears the “youthful Harlot’s curse…”. A young woman turning to prostitution itself suggests the level of poverty and corruption in society. The young harlot is cursing someone, a newborn innocent infant as she is crying. In place of lifting the baby in their arms and caring for her, the youthful harlot curses her, as she must be engaged with her customers. It is not clear if the young harlot is the mother of the infant but she could be. This reveals the hardened heart of the harlot, which represents the hardened heart of society at large. While the innocent shed tears, the perverted attack them.

The speaker criticizes the young harlot complaining how she deranged marriage by having sold her body before ever entering into the marriage union. The speaker, however, doesn’t hold any good idea about marriages as he mentions them as a death trap and uses the term ‘marriage hearse.’

The poet criticizes every aspect of society that suggests corruption and moral degradation. He criticizes the ills of society, church, government, high-class people, prostitution, and marriage. The infant shedding tears represents the innocent poor people of the society who are the real victims. There are not many innocents and their innocence too is not going to remain for long as their innocence is ‘blasted’ by the shouting curses of the corrupt.

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