London

“I wander thro’ each charter’d street,”

Dual meaning: One meaning of “chartered” considered helpful. However, Blake is critical of the expansion and urbanization of cities that destroys nature. The other meaning implies that everything in the city is owned, with areas chartered out by the king. Common parkland that was once free now has streets built on it and is owned by others, requiring people to rent their accommodation. Blake suggests that streets impoverish people, preventing them from enjoying their previous freedoms.

Contrast: The use of "I wander" at the beginning contrasts links to freedom with the idea of the streets being chartered. This contrast is a structural technique. Blake suggests that freedom is still possible if people start viewing London differently.

“The mind-forg’d manacles I hear”

Dual meaning: The word "forged" has two meanings. It can refer to a blacksmith's furnace where metal is manipulated, or it can mean to fake things. Blake suggests that the belief in social hierarchy and the class system is a fake way of looking at the world, and by recognising this, people can remove the “manacles” preventing them from being free in their own minds.

Self-imposed oppression: Blake suggests people are owned by something "mind forg’d," implying that they have imposed this upon themselves. People's own minds have put them in this jail. The social hierarchy is maintained because those at the bottom respect those further up. However, Blake argues that this is a construct, and if people stop believing in these powers, they can live truly free lives.

Alliteration: makes it a memorable protest poem.

“Every black’ning Church appalls”

Literal and symbolic meaning: The phrase is a literal description of churches being turned black by coal soot.

Exploitation: Blake suggests that the church should be appalled (appalled) at the exploitation and death of chimney sweepers. However, the church is complacent and does not complain or try to change society for the better.

Metaphor: "Appalls" also refers to the black material (pall) put over a coffin. The metaphor suggests that every church is wearing a pall, symbolising that the church has turned away from Christ’s teaching and is therefore dead. It no longer holds religious authority because it has turned away from Christian beliefs. The church owns an enormous amount of property, just like the "charter’d streets" owned by the rich.

“Runs in blood down Palace walls”

French Revolution: The quotation references the French Revolution, where nobles, including the king, were executed. Blake suggests that a similar revolution is likely to happen in England.

Attack on political power: Blake is preaching that society is corrupt with the rich having so much power and wealth that the poor will rise up, kill them, and set up a new republic like in France. The lines suggest that soldiers will die at home defending the King against the people.

Critique of male behaviour: Blake is not criticising marriage itself but rather how men are destroying their marriages. The "Marriage hearse" is a metaphor for marriages being killed off by plagues, which refer to sexually transmitted diseases.

Social context: Sexually transmitted diseases were incurable at the time, and men who engaged in sex with prostitutes would transmit these diseases to their wives, eventually leading to their death. Infants born with venereal diseases would also be stigmatised and face a compromised life.

Proto-feminist stance: He married an illiterate wife through love and taught here to read and write to make her an equal partner in his engraving business. He is attacking the society that creates an economy where young women are forced into prostitution and men exploit them without concern for the consequences.

Corruption and societal damage: Blake argues that men are corrupt in pretending that visiting prostitutes is acceptable as long as their partners do not find out. He focuses on the physical damage caused by the transmission of diseases, highlighting that men treat women as less important and disregard their marriage vows. Blake suggests that the mistreatment of women is a significant problem in society, even worse than the social hierarchy and class system.

Form

Form: London is written in quatrains, which are four-line stanzas, with a regular rhyme scheme of ABAB. This simplistic, childlike form is like a ballad or poem for children. Blake uses this form to make his political protest poem memorable and accessible, even to children.

What compares to London

Emigree: Both poems explore the difficulties faced by people. Emigre focuses on migrants living in a foreign environment, while London addresses people moving from the countryside to the city. Both poems show how cities are corrupt and dangerous and are protest poems that seek political change.

Kamikaze: Kamikaze can be used as a counter-argument to London. Kamikaze portrays a cultural celebration of patriotism and sacrifice, while London shows that time doesn't heal but makes things worse unless there is a revolution.

My Last Duchess: Both poems highlight the corrupt power of patriarchal society and the corruption of nobility.

Checking out me History: Both poems demonstrate that political power can be resisted by the oppressed. In London, the protagonist wanders freely in comparison to everyone else. Both poems are partly written in a nursery rhyme, childlike structure, and both celebrate poetry as a form of protest and a way to acquire political power to gain social change.