Prison City

The "mind-forged manacles" of William Blake's depict a slightly macabre city with a certainly depressing unity.

The first stanza puts London on the map, while similarly mapping the faces of its citizens with landmarks of "weakness, marks of woe."

Second stanza enslaves the citizens. Moreover, it claims they enslave themselves. This refers back the the weakness in the first stanza. They cry as a unit against the manacles that they -apparently- they have put on themselves.

Third stanza unifies three very different characters. Church people, lowly chimney sweepers, and palace soldiers all despise their lot in life. The Church blackens despite its efforts, and the soldier gives his life to protect a palace he doesn't feel loyalty to.

The fourth stanza juxtaposes the natural order of life. The harlot, the baby, and the marriage all mix around in order. They curse, and cry, and die of plague.

The omniscient character who walks the street unifies these woeful characters with the use of the sense of hearing. The unity, but separate despairs of the citizens of London serve as almost a warning to tourists. London is a prison, not a city.