William Blake's poem "London" is a comment on the quality of life in London, England during the late eighteenth century. Blake's descriptive language sets the mood and gives the reader a picture of London during this time period. He makes references to specific places and institutions associated with the city. Blake uses the repetition and double meaning of words to call attention to the drastic condition of London and its citizens. In Blake's "London" one of the most noticeable aspects of the language is his use of repetition. In addition to repetition, the connotation and multiple meanings of words, particularly the repeated words, are essential in revealing the meaning of this poem. In lines one and two "I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow," (23) the word chartered is repeated. By repeating this word, Blake forces the reader to notice it and consider its implications. Chartered can have more than one meaning, thus it is important to consider if this has something to do with the repetition of the word. Chartered can refer to a grant or guarantee of rights or privileges and it can also mean a lease or contract for the purposes of transportation. Here is the first example of a word that is repeated and has double (and somewhat contrasting) meanings. Is Blake saying that the general population of London has been guaranteed certain amount of freedom in the city, or have they merely been given a more constrictive "lease" to certain privileges associated with citizenship? In order to determine whether Blake intended the audience to interpret one or both meanings for the word, we must look at the entire poem and the connotations of other words he chose.
             In lines 3 and 4 the word mark (or another tense of mark) is repeated. Blake writes "And marks in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe" (23). Again we see a word...