1. What do we associate with London today?

2. London – William Blake (1794)
Social context
Importance of metre
Rhetoric
Imagery
“Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (18th century philosopher)

3. Some background - Blake
William Blake – key figure in early Romanticism
Radical – believed in the philosophy of Rousseau and the motives of the French Revolution (1789)
Believed in social equality
Critical of institutions – political and social (including marriage). Saw them as inhibiting natural freedoms
London part of a collection of works from Songs of Experience which contrasted with an earlier companion book, Songs of Innocence (To see a world in a grain of sand….)

4. So what is Romanticism?
"Nature" was celebrated – it was a reaction to the Enlightenment (science and reason – the rational)
Self-expression becomes important – not stereotypes but individuals. The Romantics asserted the importance of the individual and individual authority
Romantics generally rejected absolute systems and institutions
Freedom
Industry was a threat to the natural world - hatred for the mechanical and industrial
Don’t believe in God- but want to find similar feelings towards nature (to be in awe of it)
Not Obsessed with money
The irrational – don’t want everything to be explained or understood. The exotic and natural. No constraints/limits

5. Some background – Georgian era London
18th century – rapid industrial growth
10% of country lived in London
Confusing, chaotic, crowded
Awful sanitary conditions but were improving
Places of extremes: poverty side by side with affluence
Dangerous - crime

6. London by William Blake
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
Starter: Consider the following questions, you do not necessarily have to share your answers:
Would you consider yourself religious?
Is there anything - either in these images or elsewhere- that you find testing to your faith?
Ext:
What is the effect of placing this bible verse next to these images? Imagine going down to assembly and hearing this passage read, then when walking to your first lesson seeing children begging for food in the corridors – and babies dying of diseases outside your classroom. How would you feel?
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

7. Could you maintain your faith in these circumstances?
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
1700s London:
‘Men and women stood cooking their supper — scraps of bread and cold potatoes they had begged, stolen or picked up during the day. Hungry children held out plates and received blows and kicks from their parents when they came too near.’
Of every 1,000 children born in early 18th-century London, almost half died before the age of 2. Malnutrition, maternal ignorance, bad water, dirty food, poor hygiene and overcrowding all contributed to this extremely high mortality rate. And if an infant did survive, it then faced the perils of childhood - namely malnourishment and ongoing abuse. Many poor children were dispatched to crowded, backbreaking "workhouses“.
Dead animals littered the streets. Excrement and rubbish often blocked the drains. Diseases such as diphtheria, cholera and measles flourished.
Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white.
Could you maintain your faith in these circumstances?

8. Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered 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-forged manacles I hear: How the chimney-sweeper's cry Every blackening church appals, And the hapless soldier's sigh Runs in blood down palace-walls. But most, through midnight streets I hear How the youthful harlot's curse Blasts the new-born infant's tear, And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
GLOSSARY
Chartered – mapped out
Mark – notice
Woe – sadness
Ban - prohibition
Manacles – hand cuffs
Appals - horrify/horrifies
Hapless – unfortunate
Harlot – prostitute/promiscuous woman
Blights – spoiling or damaging
Plagues – illness, destruction
Hearse – funeral carriage
Questions for consideration:
What is the effect of the auditory imagery?
What does the oxymoron marriage hearse mean? What is the effect of putting these two words together?
Why does the poem have a strict thyme scheme?
How is constriction represented through language choices in the poem (think about repetition and alliteration.)
What is this poem about?

9. Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
I wandered through each chartered street, Near where the chartered 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-forged manacles I hear: How the chimney-sweeper's cry Every blackening church appals, And the hapless soldier's sigh Runs in blood down palace-walls. But most, through midnight streets I hear How the youthful harlot's curse Blasts the new-born infant's tear, And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
Why has Blake repeated the word chartered? What is the effect of the repetition?
What do you notice about the shift in meter between stanza one and two?
What is the effect of the metaphor ‘mind forged manacles’?
Why does Blake use ‘black’ to colour the church? Could this be a metaphor?
Questions for consideration:
Chartered is our first image of nature being constrained or controlled by mankind, a frequent concern of Romantic poetry. It’s repetition serves to emphasise this constraint as words themselves are repeated and regulated throughout the poem.
The meter shifts from eight beats to seven in line 4, precisely when Blake is talking about "marks of weakness" and "marks of woe." At that exact moment, the meter itself becomes weak (7 less than 8). The same is true of the poem's third stanza, in which every line contains only 7 syllables. That stanza might be read as a further description of those same "marks.“ This also mimics the speaker's own astonishment at all the weakness and woe around him. Alternatively, you could say that the line itself is plagued by a weakness—it has one less syllable than it should. It is sick, incomplete, imperfect—just like all the people the speaker meets.
Black represents the soot that the chimney sweeps had to clean. Chimney sweeps were always small children, employed (belonging to) Chimney Sweep masters. The boys and girls ranged in age from 4 to 14. They were often orphans or poverty stricken children whose parents had sold them to the master. Chimneys were often hot, and incredibly dangerous places. 90% of the children developed painful and terminal cancers by their early twenties from the carcinogenic effect of tar and soot. Blake is drawing attention to the hypocrisy of the church at the time, who would allow children to work and live in these conditions.
Mind forged manacles are a clear image of enslavement and constraint. The manacles that imprison us are of our imaginations and social rules rather than tangible shackles. The speaker says he can "hear" them (just think of shackles clanking together). Manacles can be read as either a metaphor for all the different ways the political and intellectual climate of London in the 1790s "enslaves" people (this is why they cry so much) or, less ominously, for the ways in which people have managed to enslave themselves. Blake had this whole idea about how our ways of viewing the world can sometimes be our own worst enemy. 
Blake almost creates a soundscape of London. The noises we hear are all agonised, depressed sounds of pain or exhaustion.
Slows them poem down and draws attention to the final line. Readers are offered a brief pause in the sounds and noises of London before Blake’s final stanza – possibly the most disturbing.
London life in the 1700s was so desperate for people that marriages would nearly always lead to the death of the couples children. Here Blake is suggesting that the act of conception is in itself a death sentence.
Blake also wrote a significant number of nursery rhymes and poems about children. The rhythm and rhyme scheme of London also mirrors a nursery rhyme – its structure juxtaposes its content.
There is a continous motif of enslavement throughout this poem. Adults enslaving children, the church enslaving people, the monarchy enslaving soldiers; but also, of people enslaving themselves by accepting their fate.
This constriction is represented through form and structure as well as language. The repetition of sound suggests that what the speaker sees around him is cyclical or repetitive—that the evils of London will continue to persist. This is nowhere more evident than in the fact that the lone E rhyming sound of lines 6, 8, 14, and 16 ("fear," "hear," "hear," "tear") occurs in both the second and fourth stanzas.
How does the comma change the way you read the first line of the last stanza? What is the effect of this?
How many figures are there of enslavement in this poem? Who is enslaving who?
How is language, form and structure used to present Blake’s opinion of London?

10. First impressions What is happening in the poem?
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
First impressions
What is happening in the poem?
What impression do you get of London in this time?
Why do you think he wrote this poem?
How do you think a Romantic Poet would view the effect of the Industrial Revolution on a city like London?

11. What?
The poem describes a journey around London, offering a glimpse of what the speaker sees as the terrible conditions faced by the inhabitants of the city. Child labour, restrictive laws of property and prostitution are all explored in the poem.The poem starts with a criticism of laws relating to ownership.
The 'charter'd Thames' is a bitter reference to the way in which every aspect of life in London is owned. Blake's poem also criticises religion and its failures. The speaker draws attention to the cry of the chimney sweeper and the blackening of church walls, implying that the church as an institution is inactive, unwilling to help those in need.
It ends with a vision of the terrible consequences to be faced as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and prostitution.

12. Structure Dramatic monologue 4 stanzas (4 lines each)
Regular ABAB alternating rhyme scheme- reflects sound of his feet as he walks.
1st person – personal point of view
Line 4 has only 7 syllables (majority have 8).Blake is talking about weakness, the structure becomes weak also.
This reflect the divisions and fractures that the speaker sees everywhere in London.

13. What did the Romantics believe
What did the Romantics believe? Use the images to help you explore/explain their beliefs.

14. Language Work through the poem:
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
Language
Work through the poem:
Identify a minimum of 1 language device used by Blake in each stanza.

15. Language: Analyse one quotation per stanza
Device
Effect
“And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe”
Alliteration
Blake makes the people of London sound pitiful. They are described as being weak, perhaps, unhealthy or lacking in morals. They are full of ’woe’ this means that they are unhappy and miserable.

16. Annotations.

17. What can we say about language and techniques?
What’s the poem about?
Themes, messages, moral
Subject matter
Story
Ideas
Why has the poet written the poem?
What can we say about structure and form?
Type of poem – sonnet, ballad, lyric, elegy
The way the ideas in the poem develop
Beginning/ending/volta etc
Rhythm, rhyme - metre
Layout – how it looks on the page
Number of stanzas and why…
Length of sentences
How is punctuation used? Enjambment, end stops and caesura
What can we say about language and techniques?
Metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy
Powerful verbs and adjectives; adverbs
Nouns which create a sense of place etc
Lists, repetition – other rhetorical features
SOUND – alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance
Contrasts within/between
Colloquial language/formal language
What can we say about authorial character/voice?
What type of person is the speaker?
Are they reliable? Likeable?
Why has the poet used this character (if there is one?)
What is their attitude towards the subject; TONE, MOOD?
The effect on you, the reader: what does the writer want us to feel? How do we feel?

18. I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Confined/restricted
Blake himself speaking- use of pronoun = personal experience (link to Romantic conventions).
Confined or mapped out or legally defined.

19. Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
More restriction- the whole city.
Should be a powerful but even this river is under human control

20. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
Alliteration emphasises the despair, both of the people he encounters and himself.
Everyone he sees is marked by experience/scarred. Repetition shows that he sees marks of civilisation/sadness everywhere.
Woe= grievous distress, affliction, or trouble

21. In every cry of every man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban,
Another form of restriction.
Repetition = emphasises how many people are affected .

22. The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.
Represents anything
that confines, or
constricts.
Something not tangible – the thoughts of either the persona or the people he encounters.
What affects the people is not obvious like poverty or disease, but the way they think, the way they approach life. 

23. How the Chimney-sweeper's cry Every blackning Church appalls;
Usually, orphans in the care of the church or other religious institutions.
How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackning Church appalls;
The personified church is partly responsible for the chimney sweepers’ cry so the church is shamed by it.
Ambiguous –the colour of the children because of soot or
blackening, of the church itself/the church blackening
others. Mirrors Poet’s view of religion as a Romantic.
Colour imagery- connotations of black.

24. And the hapless Soldier's sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls.
Sibilance – sound imitates sigh
A symbol for government or whoever is in charge.
Symbolic of his hard life. ‘Hapless’ suggests he is unable to change the orders that cause bloodshed- no control.
Enjambment- imitates running of the blood.

25. But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born Infant's tear,
Babies are born into a world where young women have become prostitutes, and they are cursed at instead of soothed.
Children should be celebrated according to Romantic views.
Alliteration supports the harsh life.

26. And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
Disease- something uncontrollable
Oxymoron- Marriage should be about union and children whereas a hearse symbolises death.

27. Neon Line Choose a ‘neon’ line – one that stands out to you.
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
Neon Line
Choose a ‘neon’ line – one that stands out to you.
Word choices
Poetic devices
Structural features
Imagery or Symbolism
Effect on the reader

28. What does Blake want us to think about London and how does he present his ideas? Take one of the sentences below to use as a starter for a critical paragraph.
Blake sees London as a symbol of the inequalities of Georgian England
Blake’s use of metre is important in emphasising his ideas about London
Blake attacks the hypocrisy of institutions throughout the poem
Blake uses rhetorical features to draw our attention to the extent of misery felt by the people of London
The poem could be seen as a call-to-arms for the oppressed of England to rise up against their oppressors.
Throughout the poem, Blake uses powerful visual imagery to depict a sense of place
Blake describes the misery of the people of London
People in the poem are presented as victims

29. PEEL Paragraphs POINT: make a point about the poem. For Example:
In London, Blake explores the power and influence of the government on the people of London.
EVIDENCE: use a quotation to prove your point
EXPLAIN AND EXPLORE:
Identify poetic device
Comment on the context of the poem- the Romantics/Romantic period/children/authority
Make 2 comments about the images or meaning of the quotation
Personal opinion – what is the effect on the reader?
LINK: end the paragraph by making reference to the question

30. PLENARY: Track how the power changes throughout the poem.
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
In my opinion William Blake ( ) is the most important poet of all time. Why? Because he helped change the world and in changing the world he saved many innocent children from lives of drudgery and misery terminated by premature deaths.
While he wrote many wonderful poems and was also a talented painter, printer and engraver, what makes Blake the most important of poets and artists is the change his work wrought in human hearts, minds and consciences.
PLENARY:
Track how the power changes throughout the poem.
How many relationships with differing degrees of power and conflict does this poem make reference to?

31. Main focus: POWER and CONFLICT
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
Main focus: POWER and CONFLICT
Questions: (Find quotes to support your answers)
Who has power, according to the narrator?
What is the importance of the use of the word “chartered”?
What is the significance of the soldier?
Why is the oxymoron “marriage hearse” used?
Challenge yourself
How does the rigid structure of the poem show power/conflict?

32. Check your understanding
Learning objective: to understand the way Blake creates meaning in London
Success criteria: an annotated poem and notes on class discussion
Check your understanding
Pick a quote (no more than two lines) and explain the language used by Blake. Pick out key words and explain the imagery/ connotations. Stretch yourself – Make links between the language used in the poem and the social context of the time. (18th century / London / Industrial revolution / French revolution)