Poetry

LONDON – WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827)

I wander thro’ each charter’d street,
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear:
How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.
But most, thro’ midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage-hearse.


1. MORE ABOUT THE POET
William Blake was born in Westminister and by the age of 14 he worked as an apprentice to an engraver called James Basire .He eventually managed to open his own print shop. He wrote, illustrated and printed his own books. His poem ” London” was written during the times of the French Revolution and showed his views of 18th Century London, a place where he lived nearly all his life .In his books he criticised religion and put forward unusual ideas about the meaning of life. Blake was considered an eccentric and a madman in his lifetime as he saw visions and heard imaginary singing. He was married to Catherine and had no children. It was only after his death that his works gained recognition. He had lived most of his life in poverty and was buried in an unmarked grave in Bunhill Fields in London.
2. GLOSSARY OF WORDS

charter’d(line 1): mapped out
Thames(line 2): river in London
mark(line 3): note
marks(line 4): visible signs
ban(line 7): forbidding law
forg’d(line 8): shaped
manacles(line 8): chains
appalls(line 10): fills with horror
hapless(line 11): unlucky
Harlot(line 14): prostitute
curse(line 14): swearing, sexually transmitted disease (syphilis)
blights(line 16): destroys, ruins
plague(line 16): deadly disease
hearse(line 16): vehicle for carrying the coffin to a funeral








3. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE POEM –...