Blake
Capital of England, London conjures up an image of an active city with unrivalled activity, but in Blake's poem "London" we get a different view. Written in 18th century London through an omnipotent voice the poem gives the reader a different perception of London. Born in London himself the speaker could easily be Blake. The speaker is familiar with the surroundings of London, maybe so familiar that the impression given to us of this cosmopolitan is one of sameness. The first verse tells us that the poem is spoken by someone wandering the streets of London. He is an observer and watcher. He records what he sees and tells nothing about himself. He seems to have no identity. The first two lines indicate the feeling of sameness in London. The streets of London and the river Thames are both described by the word "charter'd". Both the streets and the Thames convey images of bustling activity, much trade and constant mobility. The speaker though feels that they only merely deserve to be described by the one word, "charter'd". The word is ambivalent; he uses the word cleverly to describe London as a planned and constrictive city. London was mapped out into trading districts at the time. He may be referring here to
In this metaphor he gives us his opinion of what is wrong with commercial London. In the second verse, Blake goes further on to emphasise the point of sameness. Sex has now become a financial transaction. We can interpret those lines in a different way just like the first two lines of the poem. Again "every face" the speaker sees "marks of weakness, marks of woe". Though with Blake we've come to know that there lies something deeper, a different interpretation perhaps in most of his works. In the case of the poem "London" the picture is of an old man, who appears to be blind being led by a child. The second image Blake uses is of the people in this indistinguishable city. It may also have a biblical reference. The word "every" is mentioned five times in the verse. He tells us that "every Man" and "every voice" is indistinguishable, they all share the same views. As in other poems by Blake he usually accompanies them with illustrations.
Common topics in this essay:
Born London,
Songs Innocence,
London Telling,
England London,
18th century,
streets london,
century london,
18th century london,
described word charter'd,
blind led child,
led child,
deeper interpretation,
society london,
blind led,
word charter'd,
bleak view,
city sameness,
|
Acceptance Essays
