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What does 'chartered' mean?
Listed, regulated, planned, controlled, owned.
What's the method and significance of the last phrase 'marriage hearse'?
Oxymoron. Juxtaposes the joy of marriage with the misery of death. The message is that the powerful have destroyed the good things in life.
Where do we see anaphora in the poem? What is its significance?
In every (x3). This emphasises the huge scale of suffering in London. It is everywhere and it is inescapable.
'the hapless soldier's sigh Runs in blood down palace walls.' What is the method and what is the message?
Metaphor - Soldiers have been sacrificed in foreign wars to maintain the powerful in their palaces.
What does 'harlot' mean?
Prostitute
The line 'chartered Thames does flow' can be seen as ironic and satirical (/mocking) why is this?
The powerful want to control everything and turn everything into private property. But we can't truly control nature. It's a bit of an oxymoron.
What is the poem's structure?
4 stanzas. Quatrains (4 lines each). ABAB CDCD rhyme structure.
What does the poem's structure symbolise?
The repetitive structure is symbolic of the inescapable suffering found in London. The rhyme scheme mimics the footsteps of the narrator walking around London.
"_______ of weakness, ________ of ________"
'Marks of weakness, marks of woe.'
What is the method and what does it show? "How the youthful harlot's curse, Blasts the newborn infant's tear,"
Juxtaposition. The contrast between the innocence of a baby and the swearing, sexually exploited prostitute.
Who is responsible for the suffering of the poor according to stanza 3?
The church. The monarchy/ aristocracy.
