The document provides analysis of William Blake's poem "London" and comparisons to themes in Mark Knopfler's song "What It Is". Blake's poem depicts a dark and suffering vision of 18th century London, highlighting the exploitation of children and corruption of institutions through images of chimney sweeps, soldiers, and harlots. The analysis notes how Blake links the vulnerability of innocence to social evils. "What It Is" presents similar scenes of contemporary urban life, comparing the drinking, poverty, and government criticism to what Blake described. Both works convey a sense of suffering in society through their use of imagery, sounds, and themes.

1. Les Miserables
Past & Present
prof.ssa Anna Grazia Panebianco

2. Mark
KNOPFLER
Gustave DORE’
William
BLAKE

3. LONDON
I wander thro’ each charter’d street,
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow.
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear
How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every black’ning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls
But most thro’ midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hears
(by William Blake)

4. Comment
LONDON is one of the few political poems by Blake since
it highlights the moral disease of his times. All the political,
religious and social institutions, personified by the
characters that crowd the English capital, are criticized.
The Chimney sweeper, for instance, represents the
exploitation of children, the Palace represents the king and
the government and the Harlot represents a distorted
concept of love.
The misery that pervades the town is both physical and
moral. The word “ban” and the phrase “mind-forg'd
manacles”, for instance, not only imply political restriction
but also emphasize a wrong attitude towards life. The
colors and sounds used by the poet, help reinforce the
general atmosphere of suffering of the poem.
Blake paints a nightmare vision of social and urban decay,
where anguished sounds reverberate, darkness prevails
(‘black’ning Church’, ‘midnight streets’) and death stalks
the streets (the ‘blood’ of the ‘hapless Soldier’, the ‘hearse’
that contains those stricken with ‘plagues’). Victims are
innocent. Innocence is especially endangered when it is
ignorant of the ‘woe’ in life and of the possibility of failure
and betrayal. This poem links exposure of the social evil of
the child chimney-sweep and adolescent prostitute with
the theme of the exploitation and vulnerability of
innocence. The innocence of the young bride is also
devastated by the disease her promiscuous husband will
infect her with.
The vulnerability of
innocence

5. Engraved by Gustave Doré (1832-1883),
this is one of 180 prints from his work
entitled London: A pilgrimage, first
published in 1872. The print shows an
overcrowded tenement block with washing
in the back gardens and a railway in the
distance. Doré was accused of focussing
on the ‘commonest’ and ‘vulgar’ parts of
the city. One theory at this time was that
dirt, overcrowding and bad smells in the air
caused disease. This appeared to offer a
reason why poorer areas of towns and
cities were more susceptible to disease.
Over London
by Rail
Gustave Dorè, engraving,
London, England, 1872
William Blake, Urizen in Chains.

6. Mark Knopfler
What It Is
The song d
eals with life in contemporary society. It is included in the album Sailing to Philadelfia released in 2000. It presents themes and scenes which may be compar
William Blake illustrated in his poem London in the 19th century.

7. What it is
The drinking dens are spilling out
There's staggering in the square
There's lads and lasses falling about
And a crackling in the air
Down around the dungeon doors
The shelters and the queues
Everybody's looking for
Somebody's arms to fall into
That's what it is
It's what it is now
There's frost on the graves and the
monuments
But the taverns are warm in town
People curse the government
And shovel hot food down
Lights are out in the city hall
The castle and the keep
The moon shines down upon it all
The legless and asleep
And it's cold on the tollgate
With the wagons creeping through
Cold on the tollgate
God knows what I could do with you
That's what it is
It's what it is now
The garrison sleeps in the citadel
With the ghosts and the ancient stones
High on the parapet
A Scottish piper stands alone
And high on the wind
The highland drums begin to roll
And something from the past just comes
And stares into my soul
Ciò che é
And it's cold on the tollgate
with the Caledonian blues
Cold on the tollgate
God knows what I could do with you
That's what it is
It's what it is now
What it is
It's what it is now
There's a chink of light, there's a burning wick
There's a lantern in the tower
Wee Willie Winkie with a candlestick
Still writing songs in the wee wee hours
On Charlotte Street I take
A walking stick for my hotel
The ghost of Dirty Dick
Is still in search of Little Nell
That's what it is
It's what it is now
It's what it is
What it is now…
le bettole traboccano di gente
c'è chi barcolla nella piazza
ci sono giovanotti e ragazze
che ridono senza riuscire a smettere
e uno scricchiolio nell'aria
dalle parti delle prigioni sotterranee
i ripari e le file di gente
tutti stanno cercando
le braccia di qualcuno per cadervi dentro
è quello che è
è quello che è adesso
tombe e monumenti sono ghiacciati
le taverne sono calde in città
la gente maledice il governo
e si ingozza di cibo caldo
le luci sono spente nel municipio
nel castello e nel mastio
la luna splende su tutto questo
su chi è sbronzo perso e chi è sobrio
fa freddo nel casello autostradale
con i camion che vi strisciano attraverso
freddo nel the casello autostradale
Dio solo sa quello che avrei potuto fare con
te
è quello che è
è quello che è adesso
i soldati della guarnigione dormono nella
cittadella
con i fantasmi e le pietre antiche
in alto sul parapetto
solo una cornamusa
alta nel vento
i tamburi degli altopiani comunciano a
rullare
arriva qualcosa dal passato
e fissa la mia anima
fa freddo nel casello autostradale
con il Caledonian blues
freddo nel the casello autostradale
Dio solo sa quello che avrei potuto fare con te
è quello che è
è quello che è adesso
quello che è
è quello che è adesso
da una fessura passa della luce,
c'è uno stoppino che brucia
c'è una lanterna nella torre
Wee Willie Winkie con un candeliere
scrive ancora canzoni nelle ore piccole
in Charlotte Street prendo
un bastone da passeggio nel mio hotel
il fantasma di Dirty Dick
sta cercando ancora Little Nell
è quello che è
è quello che è adesso
oh, è quello che è
è quello che è adesso

8. Liceo Scientifico “Brunelleschi”
a.s. 2015/2016
Progetto Les Miserables
un percorso nella letteratura, arte e musica
prof.ssa Anna Grazia Panebianco