william blake
William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience give a strong yet unique view of the Romantic period. The Romantic period was a time that experienced many revolutions such as political, industrial, and even social. Being born and living in London, William Blake was able to experience and look at first hand how life was during the Romantic period. As he expressed his thoughts and visions in his poems, he creates many different images of the time that can be interpreted in different ways. However, Blake's poem, "London", expresses life and society the best as it was in his hometown during these tough times. The first verse tells us that someone wandering the streets of London is narrating the poem. This person records what he sees but does not identify himself. The feeling of plainness and sameness in London is given as both the streets of London and the Thames River are described by the word "charter'd"(56). This foreshadows society as being in a constant ac
The emphasis of sameness in London is shown once again in the second verse. The next two verses both relate harsh, brutal images to London. This shows that they all share the same ideas such as fear, sadness, and weakness. The mentioning of "the youthful Harlot's curse"(56) indicates how corrupted London's society really was. Blake's metaphor in the last line of the second stanza, "mind forg'd manacles"(56) conjures up a powerful image. This is saying that manacles are forged for the mind. The picture is of an old man, who appears to be blind being led by a child. Also, the use of "midnight streets"(56) to describe London is a demeaning sight giving off a feeling of disgrace to such a society. First of all, he gives the idea that the way our minds work and think as individuals are controlled by the society that they live in. Society can be seen as a bunch of people enslaved to money creating a senseless place. London is seen as being filled with poverty, disease, and corruption. The blind old man is a symbol for the society of London being blind to the corruption in their city. In this metaphor, he gives his opinion of what is wrong with commercial London. Thus, William Blake's, "London", depicts society the best amongst his poems in the Songs of the Innocence.
Common topics in this essay:
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