"London"

I wander along the streets (of London)
Near where the Thames River flows
And I see in the face of every person I meet
Signs of weakness, signs of unhappiness.

In every word anyone says
In every cry of fear an infant makes 
In every voice, in every proclamation
I hear the sounds of imprisonment [imprisonment of the mind].

I hear the chimney-sweeper's cry 
sounding sadly in every church.
I hear the unfortunate soldier's sigh
Running in blood down palace walls.

But mostly I hear in the streets at midnight
The cursing of a young prostitute
Who is angry that her new-born infant is crying
And her curse turns the marriage coach into a funeral hearse.

Some Comments:  Blake is suggesting that ordinary people are living in a state of fear and that their minds are
imprisoned.  The institutions of society (the church; the monarchy/government) have created many oppressive rules
and situations.  People are not happy.  The young prostitute mentioned at the end of the poem may be a symbol of 
England, and may represent the idea that the country has been destroyed and corrupted by the institutions of society.





"The Garden of Love"

I went to the garden of love [to have a look]
And I saw something I had never seen before.
A chapel [small church] was built in the middle
In the place where I used to play on the lawn [the green].

The gates of the chapel were shut
And there was a sign "You will not" written above the door;
So I then turned to look at the rest of the garden of love
Where lots of lovely flowers used to grow.

I saw that it was full of graves [instead of flowers]
And there were grave stones where the flowers used to be;
And there were priests in gowns walking around the place
And tying up my joys and desires with rope.

Some comments:  Again, Blake is attacking one of the powerful institutions of England - the Church.  He suggests that
the Church just wants to oppress everyone's joys and desires.  It doesn't want people to love and be happy - it only 
wants them to be obedient to the wishes of the church.  The church destroys innocence and turns the garden of love 
(= romantic love) into a graveyard, symbolising death and hopelessness.





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