21 pages • 42 minutes read
William BlakeLondon
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1794A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Human Bondage
Blake wrote “London” at a time in English history when the government enforced strict laws on individual freedoms. The poem’s speaker wanders “thro’ each charter’d street” (Line 1) and “[n]ear where the charter’d Thames does flow” (Line 2). In these lines, Blake plays with the meaning of the word “charter,” a written grant by a country's legislative power. “Charter’d” communicates that the direction has already been determined. The imagery suggests that the restriction from the government is so strict that it determines even the streets and river’s directions. The speaker then hears “[t]he mind-forg’d manacles” (Line 8). The “manacles” (Line 8) are a symbol of enslavement. During Blake’s time, Great Britain also participated heavily in the slave trade. English society at that time did not allow for much upward mobility, another restriction that kept people oppressed. The manacles are “mind-forg’d” (Line 8), and they represent the beliefs and attitudes perpetuated by government and society that bind humankind.
Exploitation of Children
At the time Blake wrote “London,” English industry heavily exploited children. The speaker states they hear “every Infants cry of fear” (Line 6). They also hear “How the Chimney-sweepers cry” (Line 9). Chimney-sweepers were often children. The image suggests that those who are crying are enslaved and oppressed. The speaker specifically mentions the Church (Line 10) as well as the palace (Line 12) and implies that both the Church and the government are complicit in the exploitation of child labor as well as oppression. The speaker describes the Church as “blackning” (Line 10) because of its complicity in child labor (complicit because they do not stop it). The “blackning” (Line 10) also implies sin and corruption, which Church teachings condemn but in which officials participated.
Death, Despair, and Sadness
Blake’s London is bleak and dismal. It does not offer hope, and it is a dreary city where death dominates. It oppresses its citizens, leaving them with “[m]arks of weakness, marks of woe” (Line 4). The speaker absorbs the pain the city inflicts on its inhabitants, hearing “every cry of every Man” (Line 5) and “every voice” (Line 7). The speaker states they hear “hapless Soldiers sigh” (Line 11) which “Runs in blood down Palace walls” (Line 12). The imagery implies that the government is ultimately responsible for the soldiers’ death.
The poem incorporates a variety of images that communicate a vicious, oppressive cycle of sadness takes place within the city. The speaker’s violent description and their usage of words like “curse” (Line 14), “blights” (Line 16), and “plagues” (Line 16) reinforce the sad, morbid imagery and tone. The “youthful Harlots” (Line 14) and their “curse” (Line 14) overshadow the “new-born Infants” (Line 15). Forced sex work appears as a consequence from the governmental and societal oppression, and during Blake’s time, society generally viewed it as a sinful, corrupt profession that led to the disruption of marriage, unhappy lives for children, and more personal and societal misery. The wretched tenor of the poem is only compounded by this dynamic: Society ultimately forces many young women into sex work and then blames and vilifies them for it.
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By William Blake
