London

London

1. Link to conflict

   • There is conflict caused by the greatest city in the world having great poverty and oppression
   • Conflict between capitalism and those in need.

2. Link to power

   • The abuse of power (monarchy) in Victorian England and the lack of power amongst the poor in society as they are powerless.

3. Key quotes

   • "Where the charted Thames does flow"
     • "Charted" the river is controlled, Nature controlled bay man.
   • "The mind-forged manacles I hear"
     • The people are physically held back
   • "Every black'ning church appals"
   • "The hapless soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls"
     • Draws on the link to war at this time. It signifies their sacrifice to protect power of those who live in the palaces. - symbolic metaphor
   • "In every cry of every man/ in every infant's cry"
     • Repetition of "every" used to show scale suffering

4. Structure

   • The regular rhyme scheme could suggest that the people in London had accepted this society as normal.
     • No body was powerful enough to make a change.

5. Context

   • Set during poverty of the industral revolution
   • The poet is supporting the quest for liberty and freedom of all- yet so many are trapped in the cycle of poverty
   • Written by William Blake