Page 144 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“London”
by William Blake, pages 25-26

Vocabulary
manacles – chains that bind
hearse – used to transport a coffin

1. This poem, like “The Lamb” and “The Tyger,” was originally published as part of Blake’s
Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Judging from the poem’s tone and theme,
which book do you think “London” was published in?

2. Who does the speaker blame for the pain and strife he hears and sees on London’s streets?

3. What is ironic about the poem’s final image of “the Marriage hearse”?

4. What does the repetition of words throughout the poem do to its message?

5. After reading this poem, how would you describe the speaker’s attitude toward London?

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