London, by William Blake
Part of the AQA Poetry Anthology, Power and Conflict
Analyse the poem “London” by William Blake to understand the use of form, structure and poetic devices and how these relate to the underlying themes within the poem.
We’ve captured all of the points below in our PDF guide which you can download below.
Where to start
Analysing poetry can be a little daunting at first, and you may need to read it a few times before you understand what the poet is trying to say. Don’t worry though, you will soon get used to it and start to understand how to approach analysing a poem.
It’s important that you use the version of the poem from your anthology when doing your analysis. The layout of some poems can differ from publication to publication (particularly over the internet) – perhaps some words will have been changed or the stanzas may be set out differently. This can affect the analysis. So, always work from the version set out in your anthology as this is how the poem will be laid out in your exam.
When analysing the poem try to do a little research on the poet themselves. It is not strictly necessary but understanding a little about them and their background can provide some helpful context to the poem which can be useful in your analysis.
Use the button opposite to download a clean version of London, by William Blake. Use this to mark up with your own notes using the analysis below.
About the poet - William Blake
- Blake was born in London in 1757 and he lived there for most of his life.
- He respected the bible but did not like ‘organised’ religion, instead believing that people should have more freedom over their beliefs.
- A common theme to his poems was the use and abuse of power, which is a strong theme in ‘London’ too.
Background to the poem
- Blake was born in London in 1757, just before the Industrial Revolution.
- He would spend his time as a child wondering the streets of London, which was a much greener, wider open space then.
- His memories of childhood were peaceful and happy.
- In 1760 the Industrial Revolution began. Farmers and labourers soon began being replaced by equipment and machinery which meant that workers were forced into cities, like London, to try to find alternative work.
- This significantly changed the dynamics of London. The population increased substantially and much building and construction began.
- The city turned from the peaceful idyll of Blake’s childhood to an overcrowded noisy place.
Image by Adam Derewecki from Pixabay
What is the poem about?
- The poem is a narrative account of a person walking around London during the time of the industrial revolution, describing the sights and sounds in the streets.
- Given Blake’s childhood it is generally taken that the person walking the streets is Blake himself (supported by the use of ‘I’ throughout the poem).
- The poem shows Blake’s dislike for the changes brought about by the revolution, how it has turned the streets into places filled with dirt and misery.
- Blake blames these changes on those in power / the rich.
- He presents London as a noisy, crime-filled place where people are miserable and driven to despair.
Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay
So now we know that the poem is about let’s analyse how Blake uses poetic devices to tell his story.
Form and Structure
The poem has been structured in a very repetitive way. Blake uses numerous poetic devices to demonstrate this, to the point where the repetition seems overwhelming. Why? This incessant repetition emphasises the point that Blake is trying to make, that London is a miserable place but those that live there are trapped, with no escape.
So what can we say about the structure of the poem and how does Blake use repetition?
- Lets start with the structure of the poem itself. There are four stanzas and each one is a quatrain – meaning each has four lines. There is no variation on this throughout the poem.
- The rhyme scheme is also repetitive. The ABAB rhyme scheme (where every other line rhymes) repeats throughout the poem, again with no variation.
- The first and second stanzas focus on people he sees walking around London, the ones who are suffering. The third stanza then focusses on the people causing the suffering (the rich and powerful). The fourth stanza then turns back to those who are suffering again – which gives an almost cyclical feel to the poem, like a never-ending wheel of misery.
- Blake also repeats some words through the poem: ‘chartered’, ‘mark’ and ‘every’. This serves to further emphasise the misery and despair.
There are some places in the poem where Blake clearly breaks the repetition – why?
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Most, but not all, of the poem is written in iambic pentameter. This simply means a line of eight syllables where every other syllable is stressed. where every other syllable is stressed. For example take a look at the following line:
“In every cry of every Man“
Every second syllable has been put in bold to show it has more emphasis than the other syllables. The general affect of writing consistently in iambic pentameter is to give a sense of marching. This could be said to echo Blake’s footsteps as he walks around London. However, there are some lines that have only seven syllables rather than eight. Why?
Because Blake has been so consistent with his repetition, it is notable that on certain lines he breaks this pattern. It tells us that there must be something important about the lines that are not written in iambic pentameter that he wants to draw our attention to. Let’s take a look at them.
- “Marks of weakness, marks of woe” (Stanza 1 Line 4). This line repeats lots of ‘m’ and ‘w’ sounds but feels very blunt and short. It’s like Blake has weakened the line to emphasise the weakness he sees around him.
- All of the lines in the third stanza have only seven syllables. This stanza is about the people causing the suffering – the rich and powerful. Perhaps using shorter lines in this stanza is Blake’s way of showing his anger towards them, he is being short and abrupt?
- “How the youthful Harlots curse” and “Blasts the new-born Infants tear” (Stanza 4 lines 2 and 3). These lines are referring to particular sights and sounds that Blake sees. Perhaps he found them so upsetting that they stopped him in his tracks – interrupting his marching pace?
Use of language
- The poem begins with the repetition of the word ‘chartered’ in the first two lines. This is deliberate by Blake who is referring to the rich land owners, making it clear who he blames for the suffering: those with money and power.
- Blake uses lots of negative emotive language to describe the suffering he sees: ‘marks of weakness’, ‘cry of every man’, ‘cry of fear’, ‘mind-forged manacles’, ‘chimney-sweeper’s cry’, ‘hapless soldier’s sigh’, ‘youthful harlot’s curse’, ‘new-born infant’s tear’, ‘blights with plagues’. The cumulative effect of this is rather overwhelming and it makes you feel the despair he describes.
- The repetition in stanza one of the word ‘mark’ also shows just how visible the suffering is. It is everywhere he looks, hence the repetition.
- Stanza three refers to ‘black’ning church appals’ and ‘chimney-sweepers cry’. This can be read literally (that the revolution is blackening the buildings) or metaphorically (that the church and businesses are exploiting the poor, failing to help those that need it).
- Stanza four develops this theme referring to ‘hapless soldier’s sigh, Runs in blood down palace walls’. Here Blake is showing how unhappy British soldiers are and is blaming the monarchy for it.
- The final stanza leaves the reader feeling rather bleak. The ‘youthful harlot’s curse’ and ‘new-born infants tear’ show that mother’s are becoming prostitutes, because they have no other choice. The babies they then give birth to suffer as a result.
- The very final words hammer home the message to the reader. The ‘marriage hearse’ presents the reader with an oxymoron; something that should be so beautiful (marriage) has been ruined (hearse) by those in power. Their misuse has caused all the suffering and despair.
Themes and comparisons
If you’re presented with this poem in the exam you will be asked to compare it to one of the other poems from the anthology in some way. You may also decide to use it as the comparison poem. To do this you need to think about the themes that are presented in the poem and which other poems in the anthology have similar themes. We’ve summarised these briefly below.
Power of humans
Blake attributes the misery he sees around him to an abuse of power by those that have it.
Compare to:
- Ozymandias
- My Last Duchess
- Tissue
- Checkin Out Me History
- Storm on the Island
Anger
Blake attributes the misery he sees around him to an abuse of power by those that have it.
Compare to:
- War Photographer
- Checkin Out Me History
Experiences of an Individual
During the poem Blake tells his own narrative account of what he sees.
Compare to:
- Extract from the Prelude
- War Photographer
- Kamikaze
- Poppies
- Bayonet Charge
- Remains
- The Emigree
What next?
We hope you’ve found this analysis useful, but please remember that we all interpret things differently. Just because we’ve read it one way, does not that it can not have an alternative meaning. Remember that when you’re reading it through – you could pick up on something totally different and that’s fine. There is no right or wrong interpretation of a poem – as long as you can analyse and justify why the poem makes you feel a certain way then there are marks to be had in an exam.
We have prepared a PDF summary sheet containing all of the information on this page which you may find useful when revising. Use this when reading the poem again and make your own notes and highlights. You can download it by clicking on the link below.
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Other Resources
This is a list of resources we’ve found really useful as we’ve been researching. Some of these are free, but some are paid resources. Please note that we do not earn any commission if you choose to purchase using the links below. There’s also some more of our resources below for you to download.
- Mr Bruff – he has some great resources on YouTube and through his website mrbuff.com.
- Collins Snap Revision book from Amazon
- PoemAnalysis.com
- savemyexams.co.uk
- Tips on how to manage exam stress
- Tips on how to revise
