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William Blake, "London"

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Reading Questions

Text on p. 841 of the full Ninth Edition






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I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

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.

Re-reading Questions

Note: Some of these questions require extensive answers to explore them fully. Therefore, you may either use them as brief prompts for your own thinking about the poem after reading the study materials or explore them in a paper.

1. Re-read the last two stanzas. Note that every desperate individual here is linked with an institution: sweeper/church; soldier/palace; and harlot/marriage. What does this suggest about the connection between individuals (especially poor ones) and institutions in this city?

2. Mark the metric rhythm of these final stanzas and compare it with the rhythm of the previous stanzas. What meaning might be conveyed by this change? Also study the images in these lines, and look at how they pair violence with impotence.

3. Read Professor Hilton's Web hypertext of the poem as well as this one. What questions do you have about the poem, even after reading it several times? What passages seem debatable? How would you interpret the poem overall

 

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