London

London 

    --William Blake

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. 

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,

In every Infants cry of fear,

In every voice: in every ban,

The mind-forg'd manacles I hear 

How the Chimney-sweepers cry

Every blackning Church appalls, 

And the hapless Soldiers sigh

Runs in blood down Palace walls 

But most thro' midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlots curse

Blasts the new-born Infants tear 

And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse 

Summary of "London" 

"London" by William Blake is a dark and dreary poem in which the speaker describes the difficulties of life in London through the structure of a walk.

The speaker travels to the River Thames and looks around him. He takes note of the resigned faces of his fellow Londoners. The speaker also hears and feels the sorrow in the streets, this is the focus of the final three stanzas. There is a true pain in the hearts of men, women, and children. The most prominent of those suffering in London’s streets are the prostitutes.‘London’ ends with a fantastical image of a carriage that shuttles love and death together around the city.