Lyric Poem · Life

London

by William Blake · 1794

Reading room

1I wandered through each chartered street,

2 Near where the chartered Thames does flow,

3A mark in every face I meet,

4 Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

5In every cry of every man,

6 In every infant's cry of fear,

7In every voice, in every ban,

8 The mind-forged manacles I hear:

9How the chimney-sweeper's cry

10 Every blackening church appalls,

11And the hapless soldier's sigh

12 Runs in blood down palace-walls.

13But most, through midnight streets I hear

14 How the youthful harlot's curse

15Blasts the new-born infant's tear,

16 And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

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“London” by William Blake — quilloak.com/poems/london

Quick facts

Poem: London
Poet: William Blake
Published: 1794
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Rhyming Poems
Themes: Life, Sad, Power & Hubris

Craft notes

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Shape: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 7-10 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Author record: William Blake1757–1827
Source record: PoetryDBLondon by william-blake, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: 1794
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 74e522caeb8127d0…
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Lyric Poem Rhyming Poems Life Sad Power & Hubris

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