London Diction

In ‘London’ Blake presents the theme of power through a reportage. The narrator wanders through a ‘chartered street’ and by ‘the chartered Thames’. This shows that in the narrator’s eyes the streets are owned and even an aspect of nature such as the River Thames is in ownership of someone. These owners that Blake refers to is the state who are believed to have acquired so much power that they can own natural landmarks. Due to this power, the people in ‘London’ wear metaphorical ‘manacles’ that are ‘mind-forged’ which shows they have trapped themselves due to the pain and suffering the higher class has caused them. Also, the repetition

William Blake was a renowned poet whose works continue to be recognized long after his death. Blake was more than a poet he was also a painter and printmaker. Often his engraving art would act as the accompanying image to his poetry. Throughout his lifetime the British poet wrote several poems. The vast majority of Blake’s work was centered on strong religious themes or human existence itself. However in the works Sick Rose and London neither of these common themes is present. Though the two poems are different in content they both share an

The tone of the poem changes as the poem progresses. The poem begins with energetic language like “full of heroic tales” and “by a mere swing to his shoulder”. The composer also uses hyperboles like “My father began as a god” and “lifted me to heaven”. The use of this positive language indicates to the responder that the composer is longing for those days – he is nostalgic. It also highlights the perspective of a typical child. The language used in the middle of the poem is highly critical of his father: “A foolish small old man”. This highlights the perspective of a typical teenager and signifies that they have generally conflicting views. The language used in the last section of the poem is more loving and emotional than the rest: “...revealing virtues such as honesty, generosity, integrity”. This draws attention to a mature adult’s perspective.

In line 11 we find soldier’s sigh-(the sigh is a softer sound than the sounds heard elsewhere in the poem. The sigh is faint, because the dying soldier is far away in foreign lands, sacrificing his youth for the monarchal state. This image ties London with the whole world.)B5 (And even so the sigh is still powerful enough that it manifests it’s presence in the Palace as blood running down a wall, suggesting the biblical image “the writing is on the wall,” - the poet is a prophet foretelling the government’s eventual fall.)B5 This (strong image also shows how the soldiers blood is symbolically marking the palace walls, and most importantly the walls of the ultimate power, making it obvious to the whole of society that death and suffering is ever present all around

One way that helps make London’s poem relatable, is due to the imagery. For example, one of the many lines that contain good imagery is, “Oceans of adolescents come here to receive lessons, but never learn to swim. Part like the Red Sea when the bell rings.” This makes you picture a large group of high school kids that are sitting in class, then suddenly, they all get up and disperse like the unexpected waves of

Although the poems London by William Blake and City Johannesburg by Mongane Wally Serote are written in two different time periods, and two different settings, they both share one common theme: Man’s lack of freedom. In both of the poems, this lack of freedom is shown to be caused by the misuse of human power. As a result, the poems reveal that the poets also have one common reaction to the hardship and oppression they experience: they turn to develop a disliking for their home.

The poem’s structure as a sonnet allows the speaker’s feelings of distrust and heartache to gradually manifest themselves as the poem’s plot progresses. Each quatrain develops and intensifies the speaker’s misery, giving the reader a deeper insight into his convoluted emotions. In the first quatrain, the speaker advises his former partner to not be surprised when she “see[s] him holding [his] louring head so low” (2). His refusal to look at her not only highlights his unhappiness but also establishes the gloomy tone of the poem. The speaker then uses the second and third quatrains to justify his remoteness; he explains how he feels betrayed by her and reveals how his distrust has led him

In William Blake’s sixteen-line poem titled “London,” the speaker appears to draw from his personal observations to describe the people who live in the city of London. He describes the people at the bottom of the society such as the chimney-sweeper’s and the harlots. The people with some authority that belong to a higher class, such as

Blake’s poem, “London” represent how the city life has taken away the freedom of the people. Blake uses skills of alliteration, imagery, and word choice to create his poem. In the first two stanzas, Blake uses repetition to

London, by Blake is a poem rather than a sonnet, composed of four stanzas, each containing four lines. This effect breaks up the poem and helps to give a very plodding, interrupted tone. The rhymes however are consistent, every other line rhymes. This can represent the regimented, predictable nature, reflected in the industry and mechanisation. The contrast to the flowing poem of Wordsworth is evident and makes obvious that the poet's views differ, regarding London.

In "London", William Blake brings to light a city overrun by poverty and hardship. 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. It is with the use of three distinct metaphors; "mind-forg'd manacles", "blackning Church", and "Marriage hearse", that Blake conveys the idea of a city that suffers from physical and psychological imprisonment, social oppression, and an unraveling moral society.

London by William Blake is a poem characterised by its dark and overbearing tone. It is a glimpse at a period of England's history (particularly London) during war and poverty, experienced by the narrator as he walks through the streets. Using personification it draws a great human aspect to its representation of thoughts and beliefs of the narrator.

In his poem, “London,” British poet William Blake describes the appalling conditions of London and its people. Innocence has also been a major theme that is throughout many of Blake’s poem, including “London.” William Blake uses metaphors and imagery to show the themes of disappointment and ruined innocence throughout his poem “London.”

William Blake aims to make us understand the conditions that underlay the whole of London in the 1790s. The poem, London is about many discouraged citizens living in the city. It represents the whole English society during the time when the human condition was at its worst. The poem highlights the social-economic challenges that carried the order of the day as well as the major evils in the community. Blake introduces literary devices such as repetition and imagery to help the reader feel as though they were walking the streets of London.

Blake’s poem “London” is a rendition of the despotism of the citizens of London. This poem illustrates through its enterprising manipulation of words, the robust political