Songs of Experience: London

Overview

• Blake’s London is a scathing critique of the social, political, and economic oppression present in 18th-century England.

• As part of Songs of Experience, the poem exposes the suffering of the working classes and the hypocrisy of the ruling institutions.

• Through its rigid structure, repetitive language, and stark imagery, London presents a bleak and haunting vision of urban despair.

‘charter’d street near where the charter’d Thames does flow’

• the adjective "charter'd" refers to government control, suggesting that even the natural Thames River is restricted and owned

  • political ramifications reinforcing the systematic structure of London - the rich own it

• this conveys the oppression and artificial constraints placed upon both nature and people

• the juxtaposition between ‘charter’d’ (owned) and ‘flow’ (free)

  • typical romantic view - the nation should be free

• Blake criticizes the commercialization and control of public spaces, showing how even movement and freedom are dictated by those in power

‘mark in every face I meet marks of weakness, marks of woe’

• repetition of "marks" emphasizes the inescapable suffering of London’s people

  • also creates the imagery of being branded - we become commodities

• these marks are both physical and metaphorical, symbolizing the deep scars of oppression

• the universal suffering depicted reinforces Blake’s theme that misery is widespread and deeply ingrained in society.

‘in every’

• anaphora of "In every" creates a rhythmic and relentless depiction of suffering

‘mind-forg’d manacles’

• the phrase "mind-forg’d manacles" suggests psychological oppression—people are imprisoned by societal norms and expectations as much as by physical chains

• Blake highlights how people are conditioned to accept their suffering, emphasizing the power of ideology in maintaining oppression

‘how the Chimney-sweepers cry every blackning Church appalls’

‘the hapless Soldier’s sigh runs in blood down Palace walls’

‘the youthful harlots curse… and blights with the plagues the Marriage hearse’

Quatrain Structure

Meter