London by William Blake

1. LONDON
By William Blake

2. About the Poet
• He was born on Nov. 28, 1757,in the
soho district of london, England
• The Bible had an early , profound
influence on him
• At an early age, Blake allegedly began
experiencing vision
• William Blake Suffered from
recurring bouts of an undiagnosed
that he had called “that sickness to
which there is no name “
• He died on August 12,1827

3. CONTEXT
• William Blake was an English Poet who is considered to have made
a very important contribution to the history of art and the romantic
movement despite being largely unrecognized in his lifetime. In
‘LONDON’ Blake uses snapshots of the city to depict his negative
view of society . The poem reflect Blake’s disillusionment with
religion and authority. Blake lived in London for most of his life. At
the time the poem was written the city was becoming an industrial
landscape, controlled by landlords and institutions. Blake was also
becoming extremely critical of the church as they wouldn’t help
poor children or the homeless.

4. THE TITLE
• The title makes us think that the poem will be all
about London and how beautiful it is. We imagine it
to be very patriotic and instead we hear about how
horrible and cruel it is. We hear about how the city
has taken peoples happiness and replaced it with
misery. Blake did this to get this reaction and draw
us in, no one read the poem called “how horrible
London is” but take out three words and it makes
people want to read it.

5. ATTITUDES, THEMES & IDEAS
• Freedom & Confinement , The fallen World
To argue urban
• Innocence , Political Tension
Environment
• Death , Social Woes
Freedom to live
•
Happy & joyful life

6. STRUCTURE
• London by William Blake is divided into four
stanzas, called quatrains
• The poem is written to reflect a “tour” of the city
• The first quatrain deals with things Blake can see
• The second quatrain deals with things he can hear
• Blake’s overarching pessimism for the city is
present throughout

7. THE RHYME SCHEME
• There is an ABAB rhyme scheme in each of the
four stanzas, which each contain four lines. This
alternating rhyme scheme contributes to the song
form. Again it stays regular there is no change in
which implies that no change will ever come to
london

8. POETIC TECHNIQUES
• Hyperbole} every’ is used many times to make
it seem like everyone feels the same
• Use of sounds} ‘cry’’voice’ ‘I hear’ makes the
reader imagine screams and cries of pain,
sound more horrific
• Alliteration. It occurs in all four stanzas of
“London.” In lines 3 and 4, the numerous /M/
and /W/ sounds create a sense of abundant
misery