London

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1794

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

The poem consists of four quatrains (stanzas of four lines each) and relies on a straightforward rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GDGD. For example, “flow” (Line 2) rhymes with “woe” (Line 4); “cry” (Line 9) rhymes with “sigh” (Line 11); “curse” (Line 14) with “hearse” (Line 16). The simple pattern—the predictability of which gains significant emphasis through a consistent iambic meter (iambic tetrameter)—creates a sense of cycles, repetition, and relentlessness. This quality, in turn, accords with the poem’s theme of being trapped within unending institutionalized oppression. Nevertheless, the rhyming also creates a melodious quality, and it may even recall a childlike style; this sort of sing-song rhyme scheme typified much 18th-century children’s verse (this underscores the poem’s theme of childhood innocence, if obliquely). In fact, the poems from Songs of Innocence and Experience do superficially resemble children’s verse, though the subject matter is sophisticated and, often, heavy.

Assonance and Consonance

The poem incorporates assonance and consonance, both of which involve the repetition of sound. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line (or in proximity). For example, assonance occurs in the repetition of e sounds in the line “in every voice: in every ban” (Line 6). Likewise, consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in proximity. An example of consonance occurs in the line “Marks of weakness, marks of woe” (Line 4). The repetition of the s sounds forms the consonance, as do the repeated k sounds.

Alliteration is the most well-known form of consonance and occurs when the repeated consonant sounds are specifically at the beginning of words. For example, later in the poem, there is the repetition of s sounds in the line “And the hapless Soldiers sigh” (Line 11). Both assonance and consonance can work to emphasize the ideas they attend. Alliteration is especially emphatic, and the repetition of the s sounds in Line 11 magnifies the drama of soldiers dying as their blood runs “down Palace walls” (Line 12).

Enjambment

Enjambment is when a thought in verse does not end at a line break. Instead, the thought “spills” over into the next line. The poem’s final stanza is the most identifiable example of enjambment. The speaker observes, “But thro’ the midnight streets I hear / How the youthful Harlots curse” (Lines 13-14). The thought doesn’t end with these two lines, however. It continues even into the next line: “Blasts the new-born Infants tear” (Line 15). The thought ends in the poem’s final line: “And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse” (Line 16). The enjambment creates a chaotic feeling and tone in the final stanza. This chaos mimics the societal chaos created by the government’s oppression and restrictions, as well as the chaos of the moral corruption and negative influence these women’s curses have on the infants’ innocence.

Imagery and Metaphor

Blake is known for continually using imagery and metaphor to address larger social issues in his poetry. Poets use imagery to involve the readers in the poems by addressing the five senses. From the poem’s beginning, the speaker relies on imagistic words like “charter’d” (Line 1) and “mark” (Line 3) to create a visual experience for readers. Then, the speaker uses words like “cry” (Line 5) and “voice” (Line 7) to create an auditory experience. This auditory experience expands throughout the poem, and the speaker uses words like “sigh” (Line 11), “hear” (Line 13), and “curse” (Line 15) to carry the auditory experience to the poem’s end.

Metaphor is a figure of speech that implies comparison between two different objects. In “London,” Blake uses metaphor throughout the poem to draw sharp social contrasts. The most notable example of metaphor is the line “mind-forged manacles I hear” (Line 8). These manacles are a metaphor for the harsh working conditions for people at the time. During Blake’s time, industrialization gave rise to cruel and inhumane practices. The speaker addresses these hardships and equates working in the industry to that of being in prison.

Acrostic

The third stanza also contains a unique device: an acrostic. An acrostic is a poem or other type of composition in which the first letter, syllable, or word of each line spells out a word or message. Acrostics were common in medieval literature. Usually, they would highlight the name of a poet or a saint. Acrostics were often used to train memory retrieval (this tool is also called a mnemonic device). Acrostics are most frequent in verse, but they can also appear in prose. In Blake’s poem, the first four letters of the third stanza’s four lines spell the word “hear.” The placement is significant, considering that the previous stanza ends with the word “hear” (Line 8). Then, in the following stanza, the first line of that stanza ends with the word “hear” (Line 13). The use of the acrostic creates a subliminal message of sorts, but once noticed, it reinforces the poem’s message that the higher classes, the government, and the Church do not hear the voices of the poor and the oppressed.