Question

Why is the following poem by William Blake, entitled "London," a good example of Romantic attitudes? You should link themes in the poem to Romantic attitudes and back up your claims with specific words or lines that prove your point.

Answer 1

I wandered through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

"London" by William Blake, 1794