Could "mark" in "London" by William Blake be meant as a name? Stanza 1 of "London" by William Blake is as follows: > 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. I am curious about the usage of the word "mark" in this context. The word clearly has a double meaning, as it is used by Blake as both a verb and a noun. While I acknowledge that in line 4, "mark" most likely means "stain", I had a different interpretation. Could "mark" be used as a name, so that Blake would be referring to Marks with weakness and woe? As a common name, it could help reinforce the widespread suffering the poem is about.

This sense of **_mark_** (to _take note of_ ) is found here¹:

5. Notice or pay careful attention to.
_‘he'll leave you, you mark my words!’_



It doesn’t look like it’s intended to refer to a name, just a simple word play (you could just about get away with using _spot_ instead, since that also has meanings which include _notice_ and _stain_ ).

¹ Oxford _Living_ Dictionaries