"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"

The title of this poem is very important. Blake attempts to make a statement about the English empire by describing the terrible condition of the inhabitants of its capital city. This is also a critique of the institutions of his society; the Church and State, in a city where the Church and State are most concentrated, the harlots curse in the street and disease is rampant.