2.1.3

Themes & Structure 2

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Suffering and Horror: Language

The poem is very negative. There is no sense of hope for the future. The inhabitants of London are presented as being trapped in their suffering. Blake uses the following linguistic (language) techniques to emphasise their suffering:

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Emotive language

  • The language throughout the poem is emotive.
  • The emotive language expresses not only the extent of the suffering but also Blake’s anger at the institutions that fail to help.
  • Examples include:
    • “Weakness”.
    • “Woe”.
    • “In every infant’s cry of fear”.
    • “Blasts the newborn infant’s tear”.
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Sensory language

  • Sensory language is used to bring the horror of London at this time alive.
  • Examples include:
    • “Cry of fear”.
    • “Marks of weakness, marks of woe”.
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Vivid language

  • Vivid verbs, like “curse” and “blast”, exacerbate (make worse) the horrors of London.
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Repetition of "every"

  • Repetition of “every” throughout heightens the sense that the problem is widespread.

Trapped Imagery

The poem is very negative. There is no sense of hope for the future. The inhabitants of London are presented as being trapped in their suffering through these images:

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"I wander through each chartered street..."

  • "I wander through each chartered street / Near where the chartered Thames does flow".
  • Something that is chartered is listed and regulated.
  • Repetition of “chartered” highlights the extent of government authority: they even have control over rivers, which are usually associated with nature and freedom.
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"The mind-forged manacles I hear"

  • “Mind-forged manacles” could also hint that people are trapped by their attitudes, which prevent them from living better lives.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

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