Literary Devices in London

Each line of the final stanza is enjambed. Enjambment is a device in which an idea or phrase that begins in one line flows into the next, rather than concluding—through punctuation—at the end of aline. Here, enjambment generates a foreboding tone and momentum that intensifies the speaker’s disturbing description of what was likely the spread of venereal disease throughout London.

Line eleven features sibilance, or the repetition of words that contain the consonant “s” sound. By including the sibilant words “hapless,” “soldiers,” and “sigh,” Blake lends a musical quality to the line when read aloud, thus emphasizing the sonic imagery that the speaker experiences on his walk.

The repetition of the words “in every” at the beginning of lines five, six, and seven is an example of anaphora. Anaphora is a device in which words are repeated at the beginning of successive lines, thus repeating rhythm while also emphasizing whatever follows the repeated words. Blake’s use of anaphora organizes the auditory qualities of the dismal scene, so that readers are not overwhelmed with a list of details that might prevent them from engaging more closely with the suffering being described.

Line four contains a caesura, or a break within a line of verse that usually takes the form of punctuation. Blake’s use of a comma to divide the phrases “marks of weakness” and “marks of woe” isolates each, emphasizing the intense suffering of the people in London. The pause created by the caesura also varies the rhythm of the line, encouraging readers to take notice of the speaker’s specific words.

The repetition of the word “mark” in lines three and four is an example of antanaclasis. Antanaclasis is a device in which repeated words mean something different with each repetition. Here, the verb “to mark” first means to see or take notice of something, such as the faces of those around the speaker. In the following line, the noun “mark” refers to evidence, or a symbol, of something—in this case, evidence of suffering on Londoners’ faces.

Blake uses repetition in lines one and two. By repeating the adjective “chartered,” the poem’s speaker highlights a major problem in London at the time Blake was writing: the practice of “chartering,” or selling private spaces to members of the upper class. Repetition extends the scope of this practice onto the river Thames itself, establishing a tone of disapproval.