I used this word wandered to make it seem as if I was freely roaming the streets not knowing where I was or where I was going. As if I was lost down the back streets of London. Chartered street carry’s the mark of changed and revolutionised London. All the streets seemed dull and grim and had something mysterious about them.
My second line was on the same theme as the first line first from it id talking about the Thames!
“Near where the chartered Thames does flow,” in the first draft of this poem I wrote dirty Thames instead of “chartered Thames.” I changed because I felt that it would have more effect. Everywhere is dirty in London, but I am trying to say that everywhere is dull and grim; also as you are walking through the streets it is like deja vu. One of the most distinct things about London is how the people look and feel. My next two lines are,
“And mark in every face I meet marks of weakness marks of woe”
As l walked though the streets I could see no one was smiling. I actually felt sorry for some people. Nearly every person I met looked ill or suffered from malnutrition due to over working, low income, no food and poor living space. I used this stanza to emphasize my views and to make it sound more obvious, to paint a picture in the readers mind
“In every cry of everyman “ this next stanza is very strong and meaningful. A crying man is not often heard. Unless he is under real distress. Suffering is a very big theme in the street of London everywhere you walk you can see it in the stanza, I started the first three lines with “in every” to emphasize my point.
“In every infant’s cry of fear
In every voice, in every ban”
Children were scared. How would they know if they were going to get food that night! “ The mind forged manacles I hear” people in London make it hard for themselves. They are all tied up in life without any freedom. London is a prison. You could not hear the manacles instead you could see them, you don’t hear the restrictions but you can obviously see them. You can hear the manacles clanging together.
“Every blackening church appals” smoke from the factories has made the walls of the churches dirty. Makes London look dirty. These are words of distress.
“How the youthful Harlots curse”
These are the prostitutes of such a young age trying to make money giving birth to unwanted children. In the last line it suggest sexual diseases that have been passed around on to other men by then “youthful harlots”
I live in London of course I know London better. I have seen the dark sides of London. Places he would not even dream of.
