Blake uses “London” to argue that this urban environment is inherently oppressive and denies people the freedom to live happy, joyful lives. The poem opens with the speaker’s experience of walking through the city. Through the speaker’s eyes and ears, the reader gets a strong sense of the dismal lives of the Londoners.
What is Blake’s view of London in the poem?
A world in turmoil
In the first version of the poem, Blake described the streets of London as ‘dirty’. ‘Dirty’ was quite an accurate description as the late 18th-century London streets that he knew so well were piled with filth of all kinds. It also suggests the fallen state of contemporary society.
How does Blake describe the people of London?
The society is clearly divided in two: “the two classes of capital and labor, the rich and the poor” (Stillinger & Lynch: 1366). On the one side are the “chimney sweepers”, the “hapless soldiers” and the “harlots” and on the other side is the clergy and the nobility, which are represented by “palace walls” (v.
What is Blake’s opinion of cities like London?
Blake discards the common, glorifying view of London and replaces it with his idea of truth. London is nothing more but a city strapped by harsh economic times where Royalty and other venues of power have allowed morality and goodness to deteriorate so that suffering and poverty are all that exist.
How does Blake present anger in London?
One way that Blake uses to convey his anger on what he sees is through his constant repition on certain words. In the first stanza,he repeats the word ‘charter’d’ twice. By repeating the word ‘charter’d twice’, it places furthur emphasis on the ‘streets’ and ‘thames’ being restricted by authority.
How does Blake show power in London?
However, Blake presents power through the government’s manipulation of the capital city and the extent of their control whereas in ‘My Last Duchess’, Browning presents power through the character of the Duke who is discussing his former wife.
How does the poet describe the city of London?
The poet watches the beauty of London city in the early morning standing on the Westminster Bridge on the River Thames. The city looks so beautiful that he cannot but says that only a man of a dull soul can pass it without seeing it. The domes, towers, ships, theatres look as if they are lying under the open sky.
How can London be described?
London, city, capital of the United Kingdom. It is among the oldest of the world’s great cities—its history spanning nearly two millennia—and one of the most cosmopolitan. By far Britain’s largest metropolis, it is also the country’s economic, transportation, and cultural centre.
What are the people in London described as?
Residents of London are known as “Londoners“.
What would compare London by William Blake?
Differences
- “London” has a controlled, repetitive structure that consists of four quatrains.
- In comparison, the poem “Living Space” has an unconventional structure that consists of only one stanza with varying line lengths.
- Blake end-stops all of the quatrains to reflect the controls within the city.
How does Blake create a sense of place in London?
In the first stanza, he says how every street is planned; the River Thames has to flow in a certain direction because of the banks blocking it and how the people look weak and unhappy. He uses long vowel sounds ‘I wander thro’ each charter’d street’ and punctuation to create the pace that the poem should be read at.
Why does Blake depict London as a terrible place?
In the poem ‘London’, Blake creates a surrealistic depiction of universal human suffering in order to criticize the impact of the Industrial Revolution on human’s freedom. → slowly describing what he sees as he walks through the street. London is a specific geographical location – an industrial city in England.
Why does William Blake use repetition in London?
London by William Blake
The repetition used by the poet are significant to underline some strange and oppressive restriction that all the people there have in common: chartered, Mark, every. They are key word to understand the degradation of life.
What inspired Blake to write London?
This poem is taken from “songs of experience”. It reveals the poet’s feelings towards the society in which he lived. England in the 1800s became very oppressive, influenced by fears over the French Revolution. Laws began to be imposed which restricted the freedom of individuals.
What is the writer’s message about London?
Blake describes the troublesome socioeconomic and moral decay in London and residents’ overwhelming sense of hopelessness. “London” offers little inspiration for those who must endure the oppressive and stifling environment.
Why does the poet personify the city of London?
The poet uses personification to emphasise London’s beauty. A city doesn’t wear anything, but Wordsworth’s intention is to show how beautifully the morning light is “dressing” London.
What does the poet compare the city of London?
Ans: Wordsworth compares the city of London to a powerful giant.
How is London described in a tale of two cities?
The novel is critical of both cities in different ways: London (and England more generally) is presented as somewhat old-fashioned, conservative, and out of step with the times. Dickens dryly notes that England “did very often disinherit its sons for suggesting improvements in laws and customs.”
How did Dickens describe London?
Dickens described London as a magic lantern, a popular entertainment of the Victorian era, which projected images from slides. Of all Dickens’s characters, “none played as important a role in his work as that of London itself”; it fired his imagination and made him write.
Why is London called London?
In Historia Regum Britanniae, the name is described as originating from King Lud, who seized the city Trinovantum and ordered it to be renamed in his honour as Kaerlud. This eventually developed into Karelundein and then London.
What kind of poem is London by William Blake?
What is the London Poem Structure? London is divided into four stanzas (known as quatrains) with an ABAB rhyming scheme. This gives it a very simple rhythm, which reflects its place as a song in Blake’s collection.