Blake’s poem is angry and confused, and he presents the London of 1794, as a place of sadness, ruined lives and repression. In the first stanza he uses repetition to convey his ideas: in the late 18th century a “charter” was a deed of property, so he walks around the streets which are owned by somebody and the near the Thames – even the river is owned or chartered. “Mark" and “marks” are used three times. The fist as a verb – to notice – and then as a noun – meaning sign. In every face he meets he sees “marks of weakness, marks of woe."
The ...