London

London
by William Blake

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.

Streets of London by Ralph McTell



Streets controlled by the ruling class, 
Londoners being the feeble and miserable mass, 
wide wealth gap between the rich and the common,
cries from soldiers and destitute children,
no one dare to speak out their despair,
grief and anger fill the air.

These are the sights Blake sees as he walks through the streets of London and the poem brings poverty in contemporary London to light. No matter how hard their lives are, Londoners never criticise the authority for fear of imprisonment. A young lady he sees in a London street, works as a prostitute for the rich. This young mother has no choice because of poverty. Still, the unhearing authority is indifferent to her helpless people.


London records what Blake sees along the streets of 18th Century London ; Streets of London by Ralph McTell makes you reflect by telling you what he sees in the streets of 20th Century London.

The focus of the song is the aged, though they contributed their entire life for the society they are being forgotten by the society. Then there we see this old man in the closed-down market, this homeless old girl whose clothes are in rags, the same lonely old man at the cafe and the last old man who is a forgotten hero. They are on their own, they fall into oblivion. But they ask nothing from the rest of the society, they just stay humble and quiet, probably for the rest of their lives.

These elderly people worked very hard when they were young and contributed to the development of today's world. They bring the next generation to this world and they deserve everyone's respect and attention. The situation happens in Hong Kong, too. Solitary elders are omnipresent in our society. I remember visiting solitary elders before Mid-autumn festival one year. Symbolises unity of the family, the festival makes the elderly more lonely as they know that no one is celebrating with them. The children of these elders either do not care about them or immigrated to other parts of the world and not visiting often. How cruel is this to the elders?

They should be cared for.