Social Background of London in 1794

During the 1790’s London was going through a period where social gap was visually seen. There were the very wealthy and the very poor. London had grown as much as it was going to at this point and things began to settle down. The poor often lived in the East end of the city while the rich lived in the west. The East end of the city became widely known for its textile factories and violent protest due to the difficult jobs having to be done by the poor. The west end however started to grow again in response to the increasing importance of the rich persons role in society. The streets here were decorated by fine shops and elite craftsman making the East end again fall into the shadows.

Political Climate

William Blake, A significant english poet during the French Revolution
era was an outside the box thinker writing about many non traditional
ideas that were not always respected by others. In 1794 Blake published, “London”
which embodied a sense of rebellion which coheres to his beliefs in politics.
During this time The United Kingdom was led by George William Frederick III.
The 1790s were full of anti government cartoons which often times referenced King
George III. Many citizens during this decade were unpleased with the royal and
aristocratic government. In 1794 the year london was published, radical political leaders
showing rebellion could be arrested without trial.

Background Info

William Blake (1757 - 1827)

William Blake was born in London and lived through the American and French Revolutions. The horrors and chaos that ensued are a major influence on his writings: for example his poem London tells of the conditions in which he was living in during the time. He wrote the poem to bring light to the problems that society was facing and to influence change. During his childhood William had an artistic imagination and on one occasion he told his parents a story about a tree filled with angels, who's wings were as bright as stars. In response to this William's father was going to beat him, but was stopped by his mother. Later his parents encouraged William's artistic abilities and enrolled him in Pars' drawing school. His parents could not afford to keep him enrolled past the age of fourteen so they apprenticed him to a master engraver. After working as an engraver William enrolled himself in the Royal Academy at the age of 21 and later became a journeyman engraver. During this time he engraved illustrations for Don Quixote and Ladies' Magazine. After William's father died he used the money to open his own print seller shop and to move next door to his family's home. His shop ended up being unsuccessful and his closet brother Robert died, this was one of the hardest parts of his life and a was a changing point in his writing career. He later developed "illuminated writing" and said that he brother Robert was the one who taught him. One of the biggest influences of William's life was the time he was caught up in a riot and ended up being at the front of the mob when the Newgate Prison was burned. William had seen many tragedies in his life and compared the conditions that people had to life in with those in France which led to the French Revolution. He wanted the poem to spark change and to prevent what happened in France from happening in London.

Read more at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-blake

Poem and Annotations

Seth Lapriore

I wander thro' each charter'd street, 

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. 

And mark in every face I meet 

Marks of weakness, marks of woe. 

Wander:  walk or move in a leisurely, casual, or aimless way. 
Charter: a written grant by a country's legislative power

"charter'd street" could mean that all of the streets are regulated, under watch, are not free pathways, because they have been involved in laws. Same thing with "charter'd Thames" this could mean there is no free/unrestricted travel in London. As he "wanders" around London, he sees people who look beaten down, and who have sorrow and distress. Could this be from the sovereign power controlling everything?

In every cry of every Man, 

In every Infants cry of fear, 

In every voice: in every ban, 

The mind-forg'd manacles I hear 

"In every" is an anaphora which adds rhythmic emphasis to reinforce meaning. The first three lines really show how awful and grueling it is to live in oppressive, dystopian, London. "Mind-forg'd manacles" can mean something that is self-created mentally, that disturbs people, that William Blake can actually hear, recognize as he is walking around observing society

How the Chimney-sweepers cry 

Every blackning Church appalls, 

And the hapless Soldiers sigh 

Runs in blood down Palace walls 

Being a chimney-sweeper means you were involved in a dangerous and exploitative  employment. Saying that the church was blackening after the mention of chimney sweepers could mean metaphorically that the church's morals were backwards and the church was metaphorically blackening with its abuses and exploitation.

      Hapless: unfortunate         In this line, "hapless soldiers" could be those being used by the state, which is a common theme in this poem: the overreaching abuse of state powers. 
The last line could be a vision for counterattacking the oppressive abuses in the form of a revolution. "blood down Palace walls" is significant because only aristocrats and higher-ups reside in palaces, they must be the ones being abusive.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear 

How the youthful Harlots curse 

Blasts the new-born Infants tear 

And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse 

Even in the middle of the night the weary people of the streets are seen. Harlot here means prostitute. Young people resorting to prostitution in a society where they cant get ahead as a result of a broken system is what Blake is emphasizing.  
Blight: To infect, destroy        "Infants tear" can mean that out of the womb children and babies can seemingly sense the despair and and sorrow around  them. "Marriage hearse" is a ceremonial oxy-moron which indicated that the two may go hand in hand in such a terrible society. Plague is a very negative word to use to describe the breakdown of tradition and 'death of marriage' in an oppressive society

William Blake

Thesis/Summary

This poem by William Blake is all about the city of London at his time and how oppressive, abusive, and exploitative the system was. In essence, this a social protest with subliminal ideas of revolution and protest. He describes many results of the bureaucratic system that are unhealthy, inhuman, and awful. His use of many literary devices such as assonance, anaphoras, and repetition add emphasis to the points he raises about the city conditions. The rhetoric and diction he uses within stanzas is really impactful and generates anger and other emotional responses. This poem is really descriptive about the side of history a lot may seem to forget about or ignore, and matches up with the era and setting in dark but accurate ways.

Questions:

1. What do you feel reading this poem? What mood does this poem display?

2. Is there a reason for writing this poem that is clear? What is it?

3. What is the setting, and how is it described in this poem?

4. What did you not know about London circa 19th century?

5. Is this more of a politically inspired poem? Or emotionally inspired?


Picture taken from poets.org