Within William Blake’s poem “‘London’ From Songs of Experience” the streets of London are conveyed through the eyes of a man living within a society overpowered by political oppression and darkness. During the late 1700s, the Industrial Revolution had commenced leaving problems within child labor laws, working conditions, and public health. Even though there were a variety of positive outcomes such as new technologies and urbanization of cities; there seemed to be a sense of misery and darkness lurking through the streets. Blake’s poem addresses the negative aspects during this time period and conveys to the reader the vast amount of the population affected by the British monarchy through the use of repetition, striking imagery, and prevailing contrast. 

The use of repetition throughout Blake’s poem helps to strike readers that “London” is much more than a poem about misery and weakness; it is a poem that alludes to the society of London as a whole and the vibes reflecting off the city to the man observing the streets. The beginning of the poem has repetition that is being referenced to the charters that took over the rights of many people “I wander thro’ each chartered street, / Near where the chartered Thames does flow” (lines 1-2). These lines are depicting how people during this time period, especially the speaker, viewed that charters take the freedoms of individualism and rights away from the common man, resulting in a corrupt, uneven society. Human misery becomes visible to the reader as Blake writes “In every cry of every Man, / In every Infant’s cry of fear, / In every voice…” (5-7) because the repetition of the word every here depicts that it is not just one person suffering in despair and weaknesses, it is the entire population as a whole. The speaker can feel and hear the distress in every man on the streets, the cry of every infant, and the cry in every voice he makes contact with, clearly showing us readers of the corruption the people feel from how and where they live during this time in London. 

Throughout Blake’s poem, the use of striking imagery helps to convey the awful foundation and mourning lifestyle the people of London have to live in day after day. Every street the man turns results in images of death and horror such as in these lines “And the hapless Soldier’s sigh, / Runs in blood down Palace-walls” (11-12). The sigh and blood help to represent how the people in control of the city are responsible for the actions happening around them, as in the death of the soldier, and how people are starting to feel obligated to die or live in torment because of this awful government. The lines “How the youthful Harlot’s curse, / Blasts the new-born infant’s tear, / And blights with plagues the marriage hearse” (14-16) create a significant image showing that prostitutes are not accepted in society, and that marrying a prostitute creates plagues leading to unhappy, difficult lives for the children. The Harlot’s curse conveys how despondency results from a child birth in this type of relationship; society views prostitutes as lower than the lowest social class depicting that they bring nothing but more despair, which the people do not cherish. 

Blake makes it visible to his readers that the contrast of events throughout the poem such as the infant, prostitute, and soldier all result in the different perspectives and lifestyles portrayed in society during this time.  For example, the prostitute is clearly not accepted into society, yet she still carries out her everyday life because that is the only way she knows and can live, but the soldier on the other hand believes he needs to force death on himself because he can no longer live in a corrupt society where he sees everyone being treated poorly. The lines “How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry, / Every blackening Church appalls” (9-10) contrasts with the lines “And the hapless Soldier’s sigh, / Runs in bloods down Palace-walls” (11-12) because it shows how the Chimney sweeper was compared to the church in horror and viewed poorly on in society, but also the soldier being compared with the palace walls shows how society cares more highly about the luxuries and nice things rather than their own people. This conveys how the government in London during the late 1700s would show appreciation and awe to the objects and places they valued most, not their people. Also, towards the end of this poem the language “marriage hearse” (16) starts up a weird contrast in the fact that hearse, a vehicle to carry coffins at funerals, is linked to marriage. Even though love should be filled with compassion and joy in society, Blake is showing his readers that marriage basically will end in death from what is seen in this society. 

William Blake’s “London” makes it clear to readers that the tragic events and conditions going on during this time period impacted the way its people carried out their lives. Throughout the poem, the word choices of woe, fear, sigh, and curse make it extremely noticeable that the population of London is living in severe darkness and despair because of the controlling British monarchy taking over. The lines “A mark in every face I meet, / Marks of weakness, marks of woe” (3-4) point reader’s minds to an image of emptiness and solitude; the man walking the streets for the first time can make it out that each and every person he passes lives in some sort of agony because of the government. The talk of prostitution in the last stanza depicts how society is becoming worse and more unstable day after day, resulting in a future full of darkness and torture. “London” accurately shows readers the negativity and unhappiness resulted from political oppression during the happenings of the Industrial Revolution during this time. People’s lives are impacted for the worse from the fear of the corrupt British government, societal classes, and care for the luxuries over them. 
