Editor's Choice
Why doesn't William Blake mention "London" in his poem? Could it apply to other cities?
Quick answer:
Blake uses a metaphor of the Thames to convey his outrage at the injustices of London. He uses personification to describe how "dark satanic mills" have taken over the city, causing death and disease.
The poem is a bitter indictment of the structures that create injustice. By naming the poem after the city and identifying the river as the Thames, he leaves no doubt that he wants the reader to draw connections to London. By not being too specific here, the reader has to work to construct the sources of injustice that are being denounced.
With each stanza, Blake identifies a more grievous and more specific problem found in the London of his day. While many seem distinctly English, such as the chimney sweeps so often mentioned as a blight in English society, others are more universal, such as the abuses permitted or perpetrated by the church and government. Similarly, the degradation suffered by the prostitute—in pregnancy—is rarely shared by her customers. Venereal disease, however, is, for it "blights with plagues the Marriage hearse."
Would the poem be more effective if he named...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
specific London streets or individuals? Most likely, doing so would allow readers to distance themselves from that specificity. By leaving these unnamed but clearly referring to London, Blake can expand the relevance of the sights he describes.
William Blake probably doesn't ever say the word "London" in his poem because he does not need to name the city by name. There is little doubt that the city is London based on the opening stanza.
I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.
Why doesn't Blake's "London" mention the city by name? Could it apply to other cities?
While it is possible that the poem could be about other cities, at the time of writing (1794, contained in Blake's collection Songs of Experience), London was one of the largest cities in the world, and certainly one of the largest cities in Europe. Unlike many of the poems written for the collection Songs of Experience, the poem "London" does not have a corresponding poem in Songs of Innocence, suggesting the poet could not bring himself to write about London from that perspective.
Since the poem's title names the city he writes about, it is not necessary to mention it within the poem itself. But it's plausible to suggest that even without that title identifying the city, most readers would understand that Blake is describing London. The imagery is specific to London, including the Thames (the river that flows through the city that makes up a significant portion of its landscape), and the capitalization of the word "Palace" suggesting Buckingham Palace. As well, the reference to "every blackning church appalls" suggest a major industrial city where soot would blacken stone walls, and at the time London was the center of industry in Europe.
The poem could certainly serve to reflect the horror and drudgery of living in a large city during the time period at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, which took place between 1760 and 1840, beginning in Great Britain.
References