Lovely Literature

The diction of London by William Blake gives off more of a political vibe than a nature vibe as the rest have. It is written differently than most "American" poems with its abbreviations like thro', charter'd, black'ning, etc. The diction also makes it seem like the speaker is walking through the streets of London at night by the river during a war of some sort. He hears manacles, which are like chains, that gives off the impression of imprisonment. There is also many things that the speaker hears, such as "cry of every Man, every Infants cry of fear, Chimney-sweeper's cry." Talk about a lot of crying going on in London...

The poem also sounds dirty. Chimney-sweeper has the connotation of being a dirty and filthy job, and Harlot shares a similar dirty meaning. At the end of the poem, it says "And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse." I am thinking that the disease that is sweeping through London might be divorce or marriage problems because of all the Harlots running around and seducing people. Seems like we have the same problem in America though...