“London” Summary

“London” Themes

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  The Oppression of Urban Life

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• 

  The Corruption of Childhood

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “London”

• Lines 1-2

  I wander thro' each charter'd street,
  Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-4

  And mark in every face I meet
  Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  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

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-10

  How the Chimney-sweepers cry
  Every blackning Church appalls,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-12

  And the hapless Soldiers sigh
  Runs in blood down Palace walls

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  But most thro' midnight streets I hear
  How the youthful Harlots curse
  Blasts the new-born Infants tear
  And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse

  

  

  

  

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“London” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Antanaclasis

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Diacope

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Metonymy

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Oxymoron

  

  

  

  

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“London” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Thro'
• Charter'd
• Thames
• Mark
• Ban
• Mind-forg'd manacles
• Blackning
• Appalls
• Hapless
• Harlots
• Lights
• Hearse

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “London”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“London” Speaker

“London” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “London”

More “London” Resources

• External Resources

  • Illustration and Other Poems — A resource from the Tate organization, which holds a large collection of Blake originals. Here the poem can be seen in its original illustrated form.

  • Blake's Radicalism — An excerpt from a documentary in which writer Iain Sinclair discusses Blake's radicalism.

  • Blake's Visions — An excerpt from a documentary in which writer Iain Sinclair discusses Blake's religious visions.

  • A Reading by Idis Elba — Actor Idris Elba reads "London."

  • The Chimney Sweepers Article — An article from the British Library that looks at Blake's "Chimney Sweepers" poems, which relate to lines 9 and 10 of "London." The article offers insight into what the life of a "sweep" was like.

  • Full Text of Songs of Innocence and Experience — Various formats for the full collection in which "L" appears.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by William Blake

  • A Dream

  • Ah! Sun-flower

  • A Poison Tree

  • Earth's Answer

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Innocence)

  • Infant Joy

  • Infant Sorrow

  • Introduction (Songs of Innocence)

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Clod and the Pebble

  • The Divine Image

  • The Ecchoing Green

  • The Fly

  • The Garden of Love

  • The Human Abstract

  • The Lamb

  • The Little Black Boy

  • The Little Vagabond

  • The School Boy

  • The Sick Rose

  • The Tyger

  • To Autumn

  • To the Evening Star