A student's analysis of London

Analysis of ‘London’

Throughout the poem ‘London’, Blake portrays London as a very unforgiving, ruthless city, both through the use of the tone he deploys, and the use of both nouns and verbs connoting sadness and woe. Blake deploys a very mechanical rhythm and regimented tone through the repetition of ‘harsh’ consonants, like the ‘w’ and ‘ch’ sounds in the opening line ‘I wander thro’ each charter’d street’. When read aloud, there is a continuous beat, almost like a drumming, that creates the industrial aspect of London, which juxtaposes the use of nouns in the first stanza like ‘weakness’ and ‘woe’, as the tone of the poem portrays London as the binary opposite of this. This is also similarly seen in The Handmaids Tale, where Atwood deploys the use of asyndetic listing in Chapter 21 when the Handmaids are chanting for Janine to push the baby out. The adjectives used in this style of listing such as ‘Breathe. Pant. Push. Push’ create a semantic field of soldiering, which is seen throughout the novel, and also creates a regimented style and an almost drumming rhythm. This relates to what is almost the whole essence of the book, and how oppressive and regimented the regime actually is.

The use of the verbs ‘sigh’, ‘tear’ and ‘cry’ create a semantic field of sadness and portray a depressing, negative tone and view of London.  The verb ‘sigh’ in particular is almost onomatopoeic, as when read aloud the reader’s voice instinctively creates a ‘sigh’ sound. This, once again, supports the interpretation that Blake is creating a miserable, gloomy tone. The opening sentence of the second stanza ‘How the chimney-sweepers cry’ creates imagery in the audiences imagination of an industrialised world, which combined with the alliteration of ‘chimney’ and ‘cry’, emphasizes the way that London has weakened these workers. In context, Blake is actually describing the work of very young boys at that time period, at the age of only four or five. However, it is important as the reader to realise that this was socially acceptable at the time, and may not be Blake’s criticism of London at all.

However, the poem could be seen to be a depressive view on the capitalist nature of society. The tone of the poem is at times biblical, as Blake writes ‘Every blackning church appalls’, reflecting his strong interest in religion. The use of the verb ‘appalls’ also shows how the churches, and in turn religion, are disgusted at the city, which may be a metaphor for their dismay at society. It is as if the speaker is offering a prophesy of the terrible consequences unless changes are made in the city. This is supported by imagery such as ‘blood down Palace walls’, which contrasts the noun ‘blood’, which connotes death and horror, with the proper noun ‘Palace’, which connotes a sense of regal and power. These two opposites create a confused tone for the reader, which therefore could be reflecting Blake’s confusion at the culture and society he was living in.

The poem ends with a startling contrast in the language chosen- "marriage hearse". To Blake, marriage should be a celebration of love and the beginning of new life. Yet here it is combined with the noun "hearse" - a vehicle associated with funerals. This is giving a sense, to the speaker of the poem, that the future brings nothing but death and decay. This contradictory phrase supports the rest of the poem, which expresses Blake’s negative view of humanity and society, which develops, essentially, a strong political argument throughout. This view of humanity is similar to The Handmaids Tale, in the sense that Offred uses her narrative voice to present a world with no hope or aspiration, and deploys an almost exhausted frame of mind, that has given up trying to rebel against the regime, that will be there in the future.