"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" (handout). I think this poem is literal, mostly. It talks about the different aspects of London, none of which seem to be very positive. I think it is about the Black Death. To begin with, everyone is crying. Also, it mentions a plague in the last stanza. Or maybe it's just the author's personal feelings about London. He doesn't seem to like the city, but he also seems intrigued by it.