William Blake's poems were separated between songs of innocence and songs of experience - opposed people being too worldly and corruption (essentially the overall antithesis of innocence)

The image alongside the poem juxtaposes the overarching themes within his poems - it symbolises his complaint that worldliness corrupts innocence

Stanza One

‘Mark' could mean mark of experience or evolution - referring to the evolutions of the industrial revolution, scientific discoveries and the expansion of Empire, through mercantile trading & exportation

‘charter'd’ refers to the mapping of streets, confirmation of ownership and the creation of restrictions and relates to the concerns of the Romantic as Blake opposes this as he

Stanza Two

The repetition of ‘every’ connects to the first stanza, as it evokes a sense of prevalence - referring to the scope and scale of suffering within the city; suffering of children in factories or the workhouse, reflecting the antithesis to Blake's desire for people to retain innocence

The structure of the stanza underscores the point the poet is making about the restrictions of imagination and creativity

Allusion to slavery was popular conceit - The Romanics were considered abolitionists; they opposed organisations and establishments

Stanza Three

Symmetrical stanza, with double critique of establishment, due to the historical context of the French Revolution - Blake’s views within the poem could be viewed as being outrightly/ bordering seditious

The ideas and images within the poem thus far, are connected to eachother through Blake's reasoning for his feelings towards humanity; implied by his rhymes of ‘hapless Soldiers sigh’ implying that those who are supposed to protect us are powerless or incapable and, ‘Every blackening Church appalls' potentially seeming blasphemous, as Blake critiques the church by claiming that it is corrupt as an institution, spreading this

There is often a casual relationship or chain of events, within Blake's poetry- causing the reader to experience a sense of momentum, with an emotional impact.

Stanza Four

End of the momentum - due to the newborn child of a victim of sexual exploitation. There's a huge range in scale; the might of the biggest city in the world, to one tear = an artist at work

Considering all the different aural effects (alliteration, onomatopoeia, plosives, and the stanza itself), provides a good example of how rhyme is used.

The rhyme and the culminating words in a line, are weighty or could be considered as words of matter, as the form a semantic field with the other words it rhymes with; or even contrast with the other rhyming words. Rhyme can be ironic if its seen making a complex issue sound light; through Blake's undersated use of terse language, a shocking impact is created and the rhyme can speed up a rhythm & the pattern acts like a magnet drawing the poem back to the rhythm

Which sensory images present the concept of experience in ‘London'?

Form

Structure

• ABAB rhyme structure

• Iambic tetrameter

London explores the corruption of institutions and people in power, through exploitation in opposition to nurturing - the cruelty and reversal in the roles of institutions. (Stanza 1)

Suffering - marks woe, rhyme reinforced, builds an emotional head, images/ onomatopoeia, plosives, eliminates infant's tear as diminutive

Scope + Scale (Stanza 2)

‘Every’ - refrain, scale of institutions (influence of the church), rigid structure- systemically processed infection

Insidious (Stanza 3-4)

Image - blood running in the streets, river flows, range of senses, mind manacled, penetrates mind

‘London' context links

• Regular Londoners - relatable voice

• Free-spirited attitudes = outspoken, Anti-establishment → bold symbolism (boarderline sedition) sense of conviction

• Swedenbourg beliefs - freeing ways of thinking ~ transcendent

• Boldness - forthright, symbols + artistry in poetry