London
William Blake
Post-reading
LEARNING CHECK
No study aids.
1. Memory, vocabulary.
a. Check if you know the first stanza by heart:
I wander
Near where
And mark
Marks of
b. The narrator gives three specific examples of the victims of oppression. Who are they?
1. ________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
c. Vocabulary.
Name three words expressing anger:
1. _____________________________
2. _____________________________
3. _____________________________
Name three (near) synonyms of “blame” (verb)
1. _____________________________
2. _____________________________
3. _____________________________
© Gyldendal, 2012
2. Critical statements.
In groups.
a. Which comment/s do you find best match/es your view of the text? Try to reach an
agreement.
1. What lies behind this poem is a terrible indictment – of injustice, certainly, but
also of lack of imagination.
2. Blake’s “London” is a revolutionary document which ferociously attacks the
corruption of urban life.
3. Despite the fury of the attack on the institutions of the time, Blake’s “London”
always retains its tone of compassion and suffering.
4. In “London” we see a city which is truly a vision of hell – of life after the Fall.
5. In “London” Blake’s angry denunciation of social institutions never loses sight of
the way an individual is enslaved by his or her own fear and brutality.
6. In “London” Blake seems to be writing in the tradition of the popular ballad, but
his apocalyptic vision of life in the city goes beyond a mere protest against social
injustice.
(All the statements except the first are from Gillian Lazar, Literature and
Language Teaching. CUP 1993. The first is from David Punter, Songs of
Innocence and Songs of Experience, William Blake, (York Notes Advanced) page
63)
b. Write your own critical statement.
WIDER CONTEXTS
1. Literary context: other poem by the same author: “The Ecchoing Green”, p. 201.
Compare the two poems. Single out differences and similarities in content, language,
metre, and tone.
2. Literary context: other poem by a different author: William Wordsworth,
“Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 2, 1802”, p. 217.
Compare Blake’s view of London in “London” and Wordsworth’s view of London in
“Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 2, 1802”. Single out differences and
similarities and comment on both poets’ attitudes toward the city. Back up your answers
with quotes from the texts.
3. Literary context: other poem by a different author: W.H. Auden, “The Unknown
Citizen”, p. 19.
Compare the two poems. Single out similarities and differences in content, language,
metre and tone.
© Gyldendal, 2012
4. Literary context: other poem by a different author: T.S. Eliot “Preludes”.
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), who was a modernist writer, was
one of the major writers in English in the first half of the
twentieth century. He was born in the US in St. Louis,
Missouri, attended Harvard University and later the
Sorbonne in Paris and Oxford University in England. He
spent the years of the First World War in England where
he worked as a schoolmaster, in banking and finally as an
editor and publisher. He became a British citizen in 1927,
and about the same time he entered the Anglican church.
He was an influential poet, critic and playwright. Both in
Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), his first volume
of poetry, and in The Waste Land (1922) Eliot focused on
the spiritual emptiness of modern city life, and the poems
mirror the disillusionment of the post-war generation. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
a. Find the poem “Preludes” (1917) on the internet by
googling “T.S. Eliot’s poem Preludes”. Read the poem
and answer these questions:
b. T.S. Eliot wrote the poem “Preludes” about city life
over one hundred years after Blake’s “London”. Compare
the two poems focusing on tone, form and the views
expressed on life in the city. Which of the two poems do
you prefer and why? State your reasons.
You may choose to do this task as a written assignment.
Gloser
’prelude præludium;
forspil
passageway gyde
gusty blæsende
grimy [’graimi] smudsig
’vacant lots tomme
byggegrunde
blind skodde
chimney-pot
skorstenspibe
cab drosche, hyrevogn
faint svag
stale gammel, sur
sawdust-trampled street
gader med savsmuld, som
folk har trampet i
’masquerade
maskerade, komediespil
re’sume genoptage,
begynde igen
dingy snavset, lurvet
furnished møbleret
doze døse
sordid snavset, smudsig
’constituted sammensat
shutter vinduesskodde
gutter rendesten
papers papilotter
sole (fod)sål
soiled snavset
in’sistent vedholdende
assured of sikker på,
overbevist om
a’ssume overtage
fancy forestilling, tanke
notion idé, forestilling
’infinitely uendelig
re’volve dreje rundt
fuel brændsel
© Gyldendal, 2012
5. Historical context: the Industrial Revolution.
Find information about the Industrial Revolution and the new industrial towns that
appeared in Britain during Blake’s lifetime. Does your knowledge of the historical context
in which the poem was written enhance your understanding of the poem? Why/why not?
6. Literary Period: the Romantic Period.
Does Blake’s “London” fit in with your background knowledge? Be as specific as you
can.
© Gyldendal, 2012