London Lyrics - Sparklehorse

(words by william blake [1757 - 1827]) 

I wander through each chartered street, 

Near where the chartered 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-forged manacles I hear. 

How the chimney-sweeper's cry 

Every blackening church appalls, 

And the hapless soldier's sigh 

Runs in blood down palace walls 

But most, through midnight streets I hear 

How the youthful harlot's curse 

Blasts the new-born infant's tear 

And blights with plagues the marriage hearse 

I wander through each chartered street, 

Near where the chartered thames does flow, 

And mark in every face I meet 

Marks of weakness, marks of woe