Language and style

The poem “London” by William Blake is written in old English, typical of the time when it was published, yet is still easy to comprehend even today. The author’s style is emphatic and pathetic, creating images designed to appeal to readers’ emotions.

Playing with words

Though very realistic in descriptions, the poem also plays with the language, creating interesting images or relying on the ambiguity of words. For instance, the word “cry”, which appears like a leitmotif throughout the text, refers to both shedding tears and screaming:

“In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,” (p. 214, ll. 6-7)

Tense of the verbs

The author uses  very few verbs in his poem and all of them are in the present tense, suggesting a perpetual situation. Most of the verbs are sensorial, connected to seeing and hearing, which further indicates the narrator is an observer: “I meet” (p. 214, l. 3), “I hear” (p. 214, l. 9), “Blasts” (p. 214, l. 13)

Type of words used

As we have mentioned, the author uses old English with some words being even abbreviated just like in oral communication: “charter'd” (p. 214, l. 2), “mind-forg'd” (p. 214, l. 9...