London
William Blake
S This poem is about the slums of London and how the people’s despair in these areas is at the fault of their government, a government that brings hopelessness to the people.
P I explore the streets, Where the river Thames goes by, Every face I see is full of anguish, Anguish caused by weakness and despair. In every man’s cry,
In every infant’s frightened screams,
In every one who speaks, in every restriction,
The mental shackles I hear.
The chimney cleaners weep,
The darkening church disgusts,
The unfortunate soldier exhales deeply,
Causing blood to drip from the Government’s walls.
But most of all, at night, I hear
The young prostitute’s vulgar screams,
Directed towards the crying infant,
Degrading the sanctity of marriage.
O …show more content…
We know it’s in London because - one, the title of the poem is London and - two, Blake mentions the River Thames in his second line and it is known to flow through London. We can assess that the scene of the poem is located within the London ghettos because where else do prostitutes, the poor, broken soldiers, and those with similar misfortunes congregate? Also, although there is no mention of when the events took place as brought up in Blake’s poem, one could assume that they occurred in the 1790’s because that is around the time the poem was written and they were also under a war-mongering, oppressive British rule at the time.
T The poem’s title “London” is significant due to the fact that London is the setting of the poem and because all that is discussed within the poem is about the slums of
William Blake
S This poem is about the slums of London and how the people’s despair in these areas is at the fault of their government, a government that brings hopelessness to the people.
P I explore the streets, Where the river Thames goes by, Every face I see is full of anguish, Anguish caused by weakness and despair. In every man’s cry,
In every infant’s frightened screams,
In every one who speaks, in every restriction,
The mental shackles I hear.
The chimney cleaners weep,
The darkening church disgusts,
The unfortunate soldier exhales deeply,
Causing blood to drip from the Government’s walls.
But most of all, at night, I hear
The young prostitute’s vulgar screams,
Directed towards the crying infant,
Degrading the sanctity of marriage.
O …show more content…
We know it’s in London because - one, the title of the poem is London and - two, Blake mentions the River Thames in his second line and it is known to flow through London. We can assess that the scene of the poem is located within the London ghettos because where else do prostitutes, the poor, broken soldiers, and those with similar misfortunes congregate? Also, although there is no mention of when the events took place as brought up in Blake’s poem, one could assume that they occurred in the 1790’s because that is around the time the poem was written and they were also under a war-mongering, oppressive British rule at the time.
T The poem’s title “London” is significant due to the fact that London is the setting of the poem and because all that is discussed within the poem is about the slums of