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English Literature / Unit 12   ENL 1110 short lesson, about 20 seconds

"London"

Captions available

The idea

In "London," from Experience, the speaker wanders "thro' each charter'd street" and hears in every voice "the mind-forg'd manacles": the city's suffering, from the chimney-sweeper's cry to the soldier's sigh and the harlot's curse, comes from church, state and the mind's own chains.

In practice

Chartered streets, mind-forged manacles.

Where people slip

The chains are both social and mental.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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