The first stanza already expresses a negative tone, for the speaker notes that as he wanders through the mapped streets of London, he perceives on every face that he meets, 'Marks of weakness, marks of woe'. The suggestion here is that the inhabitants of London look frail, sickly, depressed and/or sad. This further suggests that the city takes a heavy toll on those who dwell in it and the burdens that they have to bear as residents, negatively impact on both their physical and emotional well-being.
To emphasise this painful and depressing existence the speaker uses exaggeration in stanza two by saying:
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,The mind-forg'd manacles I hear
It is physically impossible for the speaker to have heard the cries of every man, every baby or to have heard every voice. The repetition of 'every' indicates the general somber mood. The speaker suggests that that is all he hears, when he hears these cries. There are no cries of joy, pleasure or happiness. All he hears are tortured voices. His reference to 'ban' suggests the limited and restricted lives the residents of London endure, their freedoms are severely curtailed not only by the laws in particular, but also by choice. They are chained, as it were, by creating barriers in their minds - their lives have become a mundane, mind-numbing, routine and they are unable to escape the mental prison they have created for themselves.
In stanza three the speaker is more specific in his bitter criticism of life in London. The city has become symbolic of abuse. His particular reference to "the Chimney-sweepers cry' is a direct reference to the exploitation of youngsters who were forced into child labour. They lived and worked in the most appalling conditions and life was a constant fight for survival. The speaker directs his bitter critique at the Church specifically for having abandoned the Chimney-sweepers (who are symbols of child labourers who suffered much abuse) and for not fulfilling its task to take care of and nurture these youngsters. The speaker is disgusted by the Church's apathy in this regard.
Furthermore, he is also severely critical of the fact that weary and ill fated soldiers who have given their lives for King and country have received no real reward. Their 'sigh' is one of desperation and disillusionment.
In the final stanza, the speaker concludes his severe judgment of the city by stating that what he hears mostly through the night until the early hours of the morning are the curses of young girls who have turned to prostitution and have lost their innocence and morality. They curse, which means that they generally use foul language or that they damn their unfortunate circumstances.
The 'new-born Infants' in a literal sense, refers to the illegitimate births arising from the young girls' immoral activities and also figuratively symbolises the loss of innocence and purity for being born into the city, since it is so vile and corrupt. 'tear' informs of the anguish suffered by the innocent and its grief at being so corrupted. This debauchery does even more harm, for it spreads disease and infects not only the ones involved, but also others. It tarnishes the sanctity of marriage, not only through the spread of sexually transmitted diseases but also because it creates conflict within the marriage since there obviously has to be adultery. The marriage metaphorically dies and therefore becomes a hearse - a vehicle used to transport the deceased. It could also mean that the spouses become diseased literally and die of infection.
On the whole then, the speaker deems London as vile and corrupt, a city which infects everyone within its demarcated borders with the most pernicious diseases: immorality, abuse, exploitation and apathy.
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