|
HOME »
WORKSHOPS » POETRY » WILLIAM BLAKE, "LONDON" » READING
William Blake, "London"
BIOGRAPHY
Reading » Re-Reading » Explorations » Links
Reading Questions
Text on p. 841 of the full Ninth Edition
5
10
15 |
 |
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.
|
Reading Questions
1. What is the speaker seeing and hearing in London? What sort of world is represented?
2. The poet often creates additional emphasis by changing the underlying accent patterns of the meter and by repeating words. Look for both in the poem.
3. What metaphors and images do you see? Look particularly at metaphors buried in the verbs.
4. This poem was published after the American and French Revolutions, both of which were empowered by the rhetoric of freedom and equality. How does the poem fit within that context?
|
Icon Directory
 In The Portable Intro to Literature
 In The Seagull Reader
 In Portable & The Seagull Reader
|
