--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wander thro' each charter'd street…" description: "\"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 ever..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/william-blake-397_bans_i-wander-thro-each-charter-d-street-near_2352380.jpg" --- # I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the… ![“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…” quote by William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/william-blake-397_bans_i-wander-thro-each-charter-d-street-near_2352380.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/william-blake-397_bans_i-wander-thro-each-charter-d-street-near_2352380.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/william-blake-397_bans_i-wander-thro-each-charter-d-street-near_2352380.jpg) > “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.” [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet observes pervasive suffering and oppression across society, from the poor to the powerful, highlighting systemic injustice and moral decay. **In simple terms:** Society is full of hidden pain and cruelty. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge systemic oppression. Themes injustice oppression social critique morality poverty Mood somber reflective critical Type poetic social commentary When to use this quote - urban poverty - child labor - war - religious hypocrisy - gender exploitation Key Concepts class struggle moral decay human suffering Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront hidden injustices? - What role can art play in social change? A Different Perspective The poem’s vivid imagery may romanticize suffering rather than propose solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Curse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curse/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Midnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midnight/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [New Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-born/) [Palaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palaces/) [Plague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plague/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Soldier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soldier/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Sweepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweepers/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Thames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thames/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) [Woe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woe/) ## Related quotes > [“ 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/london-i-wander-thro-each-charter-d-street-near-where-the-charter-d/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/in-every-cry-of-every-man-in-every-infant-s-cry-of-fear-in-every/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [But most thro' midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new-born Infants tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/but-most-thro-midnight-streets-i-hear-how-the-youthful-harlots-curse/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [There rise her timeless capitals of empires daily born, whose plinths are laid at midnight and whose streets are packed at morn; and here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/there-rise-her-timeless-capitals-of-empires-daily-born-whose-plinths/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“The little girl, seeing she had lost one of her pretty shoes, grew angry, and said to the Witch, "Give me back my shoe!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-little-girl-seeing-she-had-lost-one-of-her-pretty-shoes-grew/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [Today every invention is received with a cry of triumph which soon turns into a cry of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/today-every-invention-is-received-with-a-cry-of-triumph-which-soon/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Cleaning up the country cannot be the sole responsibility of sweepers. Do citizens have no role in this? We have to change this mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/cleaning-up-the-country-cannot-be-the-sole-responsibility-of-sweepers/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [I am very fit and by playing sweeper I can control the speed of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruud-gullit/i-am-very-fit-and-by-playing-sweeper-i-can-control-the-speed-of-the/) [Ruud Gullit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruud-gullit/) > [Any eyes on me - a late-night street sweeper, some dude texting in his parked car, the homeless guy talking to himself - make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-mullen/any-eyes-on-me-a-late-night-street-sweeper-some-dude-texting-in-his/) [Rodney Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-mullen/) > [I wrote my first book in a toilet in a factory where I was a floor sweeper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-thompson/i-wrote-my-first-book-in-a-toilet-in-a-factory-where-i-was-a-floor/) [Geoff Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-thompson/) > [Malcolm X found the language that communicated across the board, from college professor to floor sweeper, all at the same time, without demeaning the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/malcolm-x-found-the-language-that-communicated-across-the-board-from/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [The national State divides its inhabitants into three classes: State citizens, State subjects, and foreigners. It must be held in greater honour to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-national-state-divides-its-inhabitants-into-three-classes-state/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The only good that I can see in the demonstration of the truth of "Spiritualism" is to furnish an additional argument against suicide. Better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-only-good-that-i-can-see-in-the-demonstration-of-the-truth-of/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It's a battered old suitcase and a hotel someplace and a wound that will never heal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/it-s-a-battered-old-suitcase-and-a-hotel-someplace-and-a-wound-that/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [You can be anything you want to be. You can be a street sweeper, if you want. Just be the best blasted street sweeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dinkins/you-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be-you-can-be-a-street-sweeper-if-you/) [David Dinkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dinkins/) ## More by William Blake > [Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/poetry-fettered-fetters-the-human-race-nations-are-destroyed-or/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Where any view of money exists, art cannot be carried on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/where-any-view-of-money-exists-art-cannot-be-carried-on/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [God only acts and is, in existing beings or men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/god-only-acts-and-is-in-existing-beings-or-men/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/kill-not-the-moth-nor-butterfly-for-the-last-judgement-draweth-nigh/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/imagination-is-the-real-and-eternal-world-of-which-this-vegetable/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Painters are noted for being dissipated and wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/painters-are-noted-for-being-dissipated-and-wild/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Time is the mercy of Eternity; without Time's swiftness Which is the swiftest of all things, all were eternal torment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/time-is-the-mercy-of-eternity-without-time-s-swiftness-which-is-the/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-difference-between-a-bad-artist-and-a-good-one-is-the-bad-artist/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Cruelty has a human heart, and jealousy a human face. Terror, the human form divine, And secrecy, the human dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/cruelty-has-a-human-heart-and-jealousy-a-human-face-terror-the-human/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [A dead body revenges not injuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/a-dead-body-revenges-not-injuries/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/those-who-restrain-desire-do-so-because-theirs-is-weak-enough-to-be/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [To generalize is to be an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/to-generalize-is-to-be-an-idiot/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [THE POISON TREE I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-poison-tree-i-was-angry-with-my-friend-i-told-my-wrath-my-wrath/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The bird a nest the spider a web the human friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-bird-a-nest-the-spider-a-web-the-human-friendship/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) [Explore all 592 William Blake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## More Bans quotes > [ Ben Carson also denounced \[Donald\] Trump's ban all Muslims proposal saying we do not and would not advocate being selective on one's religion. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/ben-carson-also-denounced-donald-trump-s-ban-all-muslims-proposal/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost thou ever flee in fear, and cling To my false rival, Life? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/why-dost-thou-shrink-from-my-approach-o-man-why-dost-thou-ever-flee/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Art penetrates, no matter how many bans you put out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mawra-hocane/art-penetrates-no-matter-how-many-bans-you-put-out/) [Mawra Hocane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mawra-hocane/) > [The American people intuitively understand this, which is why the majority of Catholics practice birth control and some of those opposed to gay marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-american-people-intuitively-understand-this-which-is-why-the/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [In every state of the Union, Fundamentalists still fight to ban all the science they dislike and prosecute all who teach it. To them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/in-every-state-of-the-union-fundamentalists-still-fight-to-ban-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [My argument is focused on the fact that a relatively small percentage of the world's Muslim countries are impacted by this order. Stated differently,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-rivkin/my-argument-is-focused-on-the-fact-that-a-relatively-small-percentage/) [David B. Rivkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-rivkin/) > [It is cruel for you to leave your daughter, so full of hopeand resolve, to suffer the humiliations of disfranchisement she already feels so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/it-is-cruel-for-you-to-leave-your-daughter-so-full-of-hopeand-resolve/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [Banning guns, drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, political incorrectness, and gay marriage hasn't worked. We should ban Life. So long as even one of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rock-cowles/banning-guns-drugs-alcohol-premarital-sex-political-incorrectness-and/) [Rock Cowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rock-cowles/) > [The most damaging prejudice consists of banning any kind of investigation of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-most-damaging-prejudice-consists-of-banning-any-kind-of/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [When observers look back 50 years from now, the arguments supporting Florida's ban on same-sex marriage, though just as sincerely held \[as views of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lewis-hinkle/when-observers-look-back-50-years-from-now-the-arguments-supporting/) Robert Lewis Hinkle > [The bill would ban human cloning, and any attempts at human cloning, for both reproductive purposes and medical research. Also forbidden is the importing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-calvert/the-bill-would-ban-human-cloning-and-any-attempts-at-human-cloning/) [Ken Calvert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-calvert/) > [We should totally ban for-profit charters. For-profit's first obligation is to its stockholders, not to its children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ravitch/we-should-totally-ban-for-profit-charters-for-profit-s-first/) [Diane Ravitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ravitch/) > [I have been asked what would I ban immediately if I could. Advertising.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/i-have-been-asked-what-would-i-ban-immediately-if-i-could-advertising/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [Lacking its own ingenuity, the parasite fears the visionary. What it cannot plagiarize, it seeks to censor. What it cannot regulate, it seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-ryan/lacking-its-own-ingenuity-the-parasite-fears-the-visionary-what-it/) [Andrew Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-ryan/) Browse all 318 Bans quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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. 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