London
William Blake's "London" is a representative of English society as a whole, and the human condition in general that outlines the socio-economic problems of the time and the major communal evils. It condemns authoritative institutions including the military, royalty, new industries, and the Church. Blake's tone creates a feeling of informative bitterness, and is both angry and despondent at the suffering and increasing corruption of London's society. Blake's sophisticated use of notation like capitalization, his specific change in meter, and the point of view all clearly develop London. The point of view in which Blake employs to London is significant to the understanding of the poem. Blake chooses to give the poem a persona, a person who appears to have extensive knowledge of the city and helps give credibility to the poem. (Foster, 1924) The use of first person in all three stanzas allows the poem to be more opinionated and less objective, drawing the reader's attention by making it more personal. Blake's London is to be the reader's London as well. In addition to point of view, Blake further sophisticates his piece by presenting specific tone to each section of the poem. Blake sets the tone early in the poem by usi
"London" is a poem of serious social satire directed against social institutions. Also, these cries are accusations against the Church. Blake suggests to the reader that until there is change this loop will continue. The speaker refers to the people or "faces" he meets with "Marks of weakness, marks of woe. Blake then again targets another major institution of society, the government. The faces of the people, or the face of society reveals the feelings of entrapment and misery in the population. When Blake uses the contradicting phrase "Marriage hearse" in the last line it is significant because he combines something good with something bad (Lambert Jr. It forces oppression on the people of the society. The meter is changed in the last line of the first stanza from iambic tetrameter to anapestic dimeter possibly to stress the section (Damon, 1965) The third stanza is anaspectic for the first foot but then reverts to iambic for the last two feet of the line. Here Blake specifically targets children, which are looked upon as pure and guiltless to help get his point across to the reader. , 1995) This line illustrates the Church both blackened by soot and the exploited people who are forced to clean it. The speaker begins here by condemning main foundations like the Church and the military capitalizing both words. , 1995) Blake proposes the possibility that as long as powerful institutions corrupt society, marriage is always cursed. , 1964) Again "Infants" is capitalized showing that there is something more than just a child the speaker meets. Once again Blake takes a highly respected institution like the monarchy and ridicules it by exposing its iniquity through the killing of its own employees! Worst of all is the last stanza where Blake alludes to the condition of the "youthful Harlots", they killed love and infected mothers and children with gonorrhea and other diseases, which blinded the newborn babies (Damon, 1965) Hence the diction "Blast the new-born Infants tear".
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