I think that ‘midnight’ foreshadows something bad is going to happen. This is because typically ‘midnight’ is used in stories and poems as a time when something bad happens.

F@CK_chloeKeller you fat slut everyone knows you suck bare dick you big batti bitch your mums on benifiys and ur dads in prison for rape you dumb bitch how about you die. I hope your dad gets raped in prison how dare you talk back to me u horrible little whore

My Nan is albino and her pussy taste of milky bar

Blake uses pathetic fallacy to set a dreary scene for the last stanza, overall creating a more dark and impactful climax.

The association that ‘midnight’ holds with the supernatural may be an used in order to display the belief that the fear held in superstitions, deludes people from seeing the truth of their current system. This therefore illustrates that those who oppress the poorer citizens harbour demonic qualities, and should therefore be what people fear. Nevertheless, the ‘mind-forged manacles’ people wear, results in an opportunity for such qualities to manifest in the rich, allowing for oppression.

powerful language

eww

Yeah I tap that

The noun “curse” has several connotations.

It could refer to the woman swearing at the child, commenting on both her terrible conditions and the loss of innocence for the child, a recurring theme in Blake’s works.

It could also refer to the inability for women to get out out poverty, they have fallen into prostitution as the only means to live as women’s jobs were still domestic and they needed a husband in order to stay financially afloat.

Another interpretation of the “curse” is that it represents the STIs that the woman has received, she wouldn’t have received any help for her disease, as prostitutes were ostracised from society from the religious constructs that Blake criticises.

Could the fact that the new-born infant is being cursed reflect on the fact that the neglect experienced by all factions of society began since childbirth. The image of a new born being shouted at is a cold, substantial image.

the author could be saying that desperation and prostitution are killing any chance to escape your life- he implies that even young girls are on the streets producing unwanted babies and spreading STIs. this is a cycle of unhappiness.

contrast between innocence of youth and sordidness of prostitution

demonstrates the innocence of youth with the sordidness of prostitution

The phrase is English rose, not British rose

correct me if im wrong but songs of experience was published in the 1790s? so surely to break in wouldn’t have any influence

Could use simpler language and sentences. Hard to read

Wonderful observation of the acrostic. Never noticed that.

blackening means to become black as a result of burning, decaying or bruising. This enhances the fact that the job was too extreme for young boys, adding to the brutality of being young in poverty.

“appals” means to go pale with fear, yet the churches have gone “black” this is a juxtaposition. the church is such an innocent place yet its gone black with soot, suggesting the church has gone corrupt along with the other institutions that Blake references in his poem.
(not my annotation found it online thought it deserved to be here)

• the phrase ‘blackening church’ could act as an oxymoron and suggests how the church as an institution which is supposed to help the children, has become increasingly corrupt and lost its sight of charitable aims

Simply, ‘blackening church’ could suggest the soot being accumulated on the church, due to the Industrial Revolution and factories, or it could also show how Blake feels (remember poems convey emotion) the church is becoming more corrupt and it isn’t doing it’s responsibility to those who are mentiioned in the poem (e.g the ‘chimney sweeper’).

@123 – Blake was alive at the time of George lll. He wasn’t Victorian. The ‘Romantic era’ — Blake can be categorised loosely as ‘Pre-Romantic’ — predates the Victorian era.

the word ‘appals’ could actually mean white and bright, this juxtaposes with the black imagery to show how these shouldn’t exist with each other at the same time.

Blake could possibly be exposing authority and those in power as hypocrites and liars, as “church” has connotations of helping, supporting and working together, however, the idea of the church being blackened implies that the church has not only been polluted by the fumes of the Industrial Revolution. but also hints that the church has been corrupted and is no longer following it’s expectations- to help and support those in need. Instead, like all other aspects of authority, the church is lying and disguising itself to be able to sustain the power it is given- Blake is suggesting that the church and the rest of authority do not deserve this power, as they are not using it as they should, they are taking it as advantage and abusing it. By adding in “appalls”, Blake is literally outing his direct views towards the ways of the church, showing the reader how angry he actually is, emphasising the extent to which he thinks authority are not doing their job and are not worthy of the power they are given. Blake is consistently highlighting the significant fact that the wound has been infected to the point where it will take all of society to work together and heal it; authority cannot fix this alone, and probably will not anyway.

When putting together everything implied about society, one could say that it is a way sinister due to its uncompromising oppression of the poor. Black. The church is described as black suggesting that it is disguising itself too well, to be in compliance with the society which means neglecting the innocent.

My chimney sweeper is autistic

Once I got fisted by a six foot six black chimney sweeper and it was great

Black'ning Church could literally show how the church is turning black due to the industrial revolution the empire was facing at the time

‘blackning church appalls’ could be referring to the criticism of authority as the church is getting blackened by terrors of industrialism but are not taking action about it.

The word ‘blackening’ connotes that the Church is corrupt and immoral. William Blake is suggesting that the Church have failed at their job, as if they wanted to help those in need, there would not be any chimney sweepers.

The fact that its a child crying instantly triggers the caregiving instinct in adult readers and makes them more sympathetic to the situation.

Could the structure represent control?

@MegM agonising is the British spelling

This line should read: ‘In every cry of every Man’.
Blake uses proper nouns such as ‘Harlot’ and ‘Infant’ to segregate society/deride the system.

My Nan cried when I booted her in the chin

The repetition is a key language technique, emphasizing the speaker’s initial unhappiness with the situation in London and building up to a strong picture of universal oppression with the five-fold repetition of ‘every’.

This quote shows that even the privileged few suffer the same as the poorer would contradicting previous ideas thought about them throughout the poem such as them having a happier life and controlling the poor. This is why this is such a powerful statement as it contrast all previous ideas in the poem as well as the patriarchal society at that time.

It could also suggest the ‘rarity’ of a man crying and how this would have been unheard of in the middle ages, linking the weakness this man might feel as do ‘infants’. Alluding to the fact we are controlled by society.

this represents the message that blake is trying to convey to the reader. the theme of suffering is evident here, but blake illustrates that the city is very polluted and it is affecting the lives of the people living there