London | I wander thro' each charter'd street

I wander thro' each charter'd street

Language: English

Our translations: CAT FRE

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 Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born Infant's tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "London", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 18, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by William Earl Averitt (b. 1948), "London", 1970 [ TBB chorus and piano ], from Two Songs of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ronald A. Beckett , "London (1)", 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Eight Poems of William Blake, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ronald A. Beckett , "London (2)", 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Eight Poems of William Blake, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by Maximilian Beckschäfer (b. 1952), "London", 1978 [ voice and instrumental ensemble ], from Songs after William Blake, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Judith Bingham (b. 1952), "Mind forg'd", 1975 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "London", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, and orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "London", op. 74 no. 2, from Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Martin Butler (b. 1960), "London" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Charlton Crawford (b. 1931), "London", published 1965 [ bass and string quartet ], from Three Songs of Experience, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Jackson Cumming (b. 1928), "London", 1956 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Norman Curtis (b. 1933), "London", c1959 [ voice and piano ], from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 29 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "London", op. 27a no. 18 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
by Margo Lynn Greene (b. 1948), "London", 1972 [ mezzo-soprano and orchestra ], from Five Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Orchestra, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Sergius Kagen (1909 - 1964), "London", published c1954 [ medium voice and piano ], NY : Mercury Music Corp. [sung text not yet checked]
by (Thomas) Timothy Lenk (b. 1952), "London", c1977 [ tenor, bass-baritone, flute (piccolo), clarinet, bass clarinet, and violin ], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
by William James Mathias (1934 - 1992), "London", op. 82 no. 9 (1979), published c1987, first performed 1979 [ mezzo-soprano, celesta, harp, piano, and strings ], from Songs of William Blake, no. 9, Oxford : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Geraldine Dorothy Rasmussen (b. 1925?6), "London", 1985 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Peter Schickele (b. 1935), "London", published c1968, from Baptism: A Journey through Our Time, NY : Fennario Music Publishers [sung text not yet checked]
by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "London" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 14 [sung text not yet checked]
by David Van Vactor (b. 1906), "London", 1958, published 1970 [ voice and piano ], NY : Roger Rhodes Music [sung text not yet checked]
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "London", 1957, published 1958 [ voice and oboe ], from Ten Blake Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92