London: Structure & Language Techniques

Structure in “London”

The overall structure is a quatrain, made up of four stanzas each with four lines. The quatrain is a poetic form often used in hymns and psalms, which may be a critique of religious institutions.
Uniform regularity of the structure could reflect the mechanical, oppressive nature of London at the time.
The ABCABC rhyme scheme enforces the sing-song rhythm of the poem, creating a contrast with the grim content.

The poem is full of repetition - of ‘charter’d’, ‘mark’, ‘every’, ‘Infant’s cry’, ‘sigh’. This can be seen to represent the endless cycle of suffering.
There are contrasts drawn between the purity of the youth, ‘Youthful Harlot’s’ and the corruption of the city, ‘blackning Church’. This presents a city hopelessly corrupted.
Narrative voice is first person, suggesting these are Blake’s own observations and underscoring the poem’s authenticity.
Apostrophe (‘!’) is used sporadically, hinting at the anguish and lament of the speaker.
Metonymy: ‘Palace walls’ and the ‘blackning Church’ are symbols for the government and the Church respectively. This helps Blake criticise the institutions without explicitly mentioning them.
The symbolic setting of ‘midnight streets’ suggests that London is in a time of moral darkness.