London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1738

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form, meter, and rhyme

The 263-line poem is written in the style of the satirical epic or mock-epic, using pairs of rhyming lines known as heroic couplets—a poetic form popularized by John Dryden (1631-1700) and Alexander Pope (1688-1744). These couplets follow an AABBCC rhyme scheme as in:

Though grief and fondness in my breast rebel,

When injur’d Thales bids the town farewell,

Yet still my calmer thoughts his choice commend,

I praise the hermit, but regret the friend (Lines 1-4).

Ancient Greek and Roman poetry were often translated into English using heroic couplets; hence Neoclassical writers’ preference for the form. One of the features of the heroic couplet, as evident in “London,” is that the lines are written in iambic pentameter, with five sets of unstressed and stressed sounds in each line. For instance, the meter of Line 1 scans as follows: “Though grief and fondness in my breast rebel."

Heroic couplets in 18th-century poems rarely use enjambment—when a line doesn’t end with a punctuation mark implying a pause—and usually end on a finished clause. This is in keeping with Augustan-Age ideas about elegance, order, and wholeness in literary and aesthetic forms. Because the poem’s form is a satirical epic, the diction is formal, even when the tone is direct and bold. Few complicated, polysyllabic words are used in the poem and its rhymes flows naturally, making it easy to read aloud. An oral quality is essential to a satire, which is meant for public declamation to a wide audience. The lines are deliberately short and pithy, so as to deliver truisms in an accessible, punchy way, such as: “Prepare for death, if here at night you roam, / And sign your will before you sup from home” (Lines 224-225).

Alliteration and Consonance

Johnson often uses alliteration—where same initial sounds are repeated in adjacent words or words placed close together—to enhance humor and hyperbole, as well as to make it easy to read aloud and commit to memory. Examples of alliterative phrases can be found in Line 19—“Thales waits the wherry”—and Line 37—“the balmy blessings of repose.”

Alliteration also works in conjunction with consonance, where the same consonant sound is repeated in the middle of adjacent/ closely placed words. In Lines 41-42, Thales says he wants to leave London, “while yet my steady steps no staff sustains, / And life still vig’rous revels in my veins.” The emphatic “st” sound reinforces Thales’s forceful sentiment, and the effect is magnified by the “s” sound at the beginning of the word “sustains.” Further, the “st” sound spills into the next line, extending Thales’s resolve. The repeated “v” sounds occur alliteratively in “vig’rous” and “veins” and consonantly in “revels,” paralleling the onward motion of blood and life.

Another evocative use of alliteration and consonance can be seen in the repeated emphatic “r” and “pr” sounds in Lines 14-16:

And now a rabble rages, now a fire;

Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,

And here the fell attorney prowls for prey.

Not only are phrases like “relentless ruffians” memorable, the rolling “r” sound is richly menacing, adding to the mood of threat these lines describe.

Personification and Imagery

Though Johnson is sometimes critiqued for using imagery sparingly, “London” shows how he uses unexpected methods to evoke a rich sense of place. Instead of metaphors, the poem uses personification, strong emotions, and imagery to create a distinct vocabulary for its themes. London is populated with personified figures like “malice, rapine, accident” (Line 13) which actively “conspire” against the virtuous. This builds the sense of a place overwhelmed by evil. Countries and cultures are personified as well, to serve as a contrast to London. In Line 27, Britannia or Britain has “her cross triumphant on the main,” referring to the British naval flag which has a red cross on the white background. Greenwich is personified in Line 22 and described as “smiling upon the silver flood” or as bordering the water. Britannia of olden times and Greenwich are a studied contrast to London, their glory and beauty a foil against London’s squalor.

The poem uses imagery to present the difference between city and country. The country is associated with pastel colors and gentle pastoral images: “Some pleasing bank where verdant osiers play, / Some peaceful vale with nature’s paintings gay” (Lines 45-46). In contrast, the city is associated with aggressive shades of fire and harsh light; it is a place where both rabbles and fires “rage” (Line 14) and where “th’ approaching fire’s tremendous light” threatens to “leave your little ALL to flames a prey” (Lines 187, 189). The predation of wealthy men’s carriages, their way lit by linkboys or lamplighters carrying torches, is described as “the flambeau’s bright approach” (Line 234).

The color gold, symbolic of money and shine, too is associated with the city, as in the “golden coach” (Line 235) of the rich young men’s train. Silver, a cooler color, is more associated with water and the country, as seen in the silver flood near Greenwich.

The imagery draws further power from being associated with strong, emotive verbs: Fires “rage” (Line 14) in the city, “the poor […] shun the shining train, and golden coach” (Lines 233, 235) of the cruel wealthy men, and the “midnight murd’rer […] / invades the sacred hour of silent rest” (Lines 239-240). In the countryside, the verbs are gentler to suit the imagery: “There ev’ry bush with nature’s music rings, / There ev’ry breeze bears health upon its wings” (Lines 220-221).