London & Checking Out Me History
William Blake’s ‘London’
William Blake wrote ‘London’ in 1794 as part of his collection Songs of Experience. The poem is a scathing attack on the institutions Blake saw as responsible for human suffering: the Church, the monarchy, and the government. Blake walked through the streets of London and what he saw — poverty, child labour, prostitution — shaped this angry, despairing poem.
Blake wrote during the early Industrial Revolution, when rapid urbanisation had created terrible living conditions for the poor. The poem was also written five years after the French Revolution (1789), which Blake initially supported as a symbol of people overthrowing oppressive power.
“I wander thro’ each charter’d street, / Near where the charter’d Thames does flow” — The repetition of charter’d is deeply ironic. A charter is meant to grant freedoms, but Blake uses the word to suggest everything is owned, controlled, and restricted. Even the Thames — a natural river — has been claimed by those in power.
“Marks of weakness, marks of woe” — The repetition of “marks” suggests both physical signs of suffering and the metaphorical “marks” branded onto people by an oppressive system. The noun “woe” is absolute and inescapable.
“mind-forg’d manacles” — This powerful metaphor suggests that people are mentally imprisoned. The “manacles” are not physical chains but psychological ones — the people have been conditioned to accept their oppression. The compound adjective “mind-forg’d” implies the chains are both created by and locked within the mind.
“every black’ning Church appalls” — “Black’ning” refers literally to soot from factories staining church walls, but also metaphorically to the moral corruption of the Church. The verb “appalls” carries a double meaning: to shock, and to cast a “pall” (a funeral cloth) over the institution. Blake accuses the Church of being complicit in suffering.
“the hapless Soldier’s sigh / Runs in blood down Palace walls” — The synaesthesia of a sigh turning into blood on walls creates a horrifying image. The “Palace” (capitalised to represent the monarchy) is stained by the blood of soldiers sent to die in wars. Blake blames the ruling class directly.
“the youthful Harlot’s curse / Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear” — The final stanza is the most disturbing. The young prostitute’s suffering (a “curse” — both swearing and disease) destroys even the innocence of a newborn. The verb “Blasts” is violent and explosive. Blake shows that poverty corrupts everything, even the next generation.
Structure and Form of ‘London’
The poem has four quatrains with an ABAB rhyme scheme, creating a steady, relentless rhythm like the speaker’s footsteps through the streets. The anaphora of “In every” in stanza two hammers home the universality of suffering — no one is exempt. The poem moves from observation (stanza 1) to analysis (stanzas 2-3) to a devastating conclusion (stanza 4), building in intensity.
John Agard’s ‘Checking Out Me History’
John Agard wrote this poem to protest the Eurocentric education system he experienced. The poem alternates between mocking the “history” he was taught in British schools (Dick Whittington, Lord Nelson, Florence Nightingale) and celebrating the Black and Caribbean historical figures who were deliberately excluded from the curriculum.
Agard uses Caribbean Creole dialect (“Dem tell me”) throughout the poem. This is a deliberate political choice — it asserts his Caribbean identity in a poem about cultural erasure and challenges the dominance of Standard English in education and literature.
“Dem tell me / Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me” — The angry refrain uses repetition to emphasise how controlled the education was. “Dem” represents the white British establishment. The Caribbean dialect is itself an act of resistance against the language imposed by colonisers.
“Toussaint / a slave / with vision / lick back / Napoleon / battalion” — The short, punchy lines about Toussaint Louverture create a powerful, rhythmic energy. The verb “lick back” (Caribbean dialect for “fought back”) is forceful and physical. The contrast between “a slave” and defeating “Napoleon / battalion” highlights the extraordinary achievement.
“a healing star / among the wounded / a yellow sunrise / to the dying” — Mary Seacole is described using natural imagery: “star,” “sunrise.” This elevates her to something almost divine, contrasting with the mundane British figures (Dick Whittington and his cat). The metaphors suggest she brought hope and life to the hopeless.
“But now I checking out me own history / I carving out me identity” — The shift to the present tense shows the speaker taking control. “Carving” suggests active, physical effort — reclaiming identity is hard work, not passive. The rhyme of “history” and “identity” links the two concepts: understanding your history is essential to knowing who you are.
Comparison: Blake and Agard
Both poets use their poems as acts of political protest. Blake attacks the Church, monarchy, and government for causing suffering in Georgian London; Agard attacks the education system for erasing Black history and identity. Both use repetition as a structural device (Blake’s “In every”; Agard’s “Dem tell me”) to build a sense of relentless injustice. However, while Blake’s tone is despairing and the poem ends with no hope, Agard’s poem ends with empowerment: “I carving out me identity.”
Both poets challenge who holds power over narratives. Blake shows how institutions control people’s lives; Agard shows how institutions control people’s understanding of history. Both suggest that true freedom requires breaking free from these controls.