Comparing the Two Pictures of London, Illustrated by Wordsworth and Blake in Their Two Poems
The two poems depicting London by Wordsworth and Blake are in some
ways similar and yet have many differences. Both observations of
London are depicted through the poets' personal perspectives of London
using individual experiences. We can tell that both poems are from the
person's interpretations and experiences as they are said in the first
person: 'Ne'er saw I…' in Wordswoths' poem and:
'I wonder through each chartered street…' in Blakes'.
Both poems are well structured and use emphatic language. 'Upon
Westminster Bridge' is a Petrachran sonnet which expresses strong
emotion. It depicts his joy and awe of a beautiful city that is
sleeping. It comes across as very optimistic with only positive things
to say. The elation is built up through the sonnet using rhyme and
emphatic language '... a calm so deep!' and similes are used that
portray an underlying theme 'This city now doth, like a garment,
wear.' I think this is where the first look at the poem is not enough
to fully grasp Wordsworth's meaning.
Blake's poem at first glance is very much the opposite: it too uses
emphatic language and builds up the feeling through the quatrains
which allow his thoughts to progress yet the feeling and emotional
outbursts are of a completely different nature. This poem seems
pessimistic and has only gloom and negative points mentioned.' In
every cry of every man' is different to Wordsworths' depiction of
serenity, beauty and calm:
'A sight so touching in its majesty'.
The River Thames is used in both poems but is illustrated differently.
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...hat people are
trapped in their social status but it is only in the mind and thoughts
can be changed it isn't yet a physical state. This leaves us with
optimism of change.
Wordsworth although his poem is very optimistic the irony is that it
is only captured in one moment. His depiction is not typical. He talks
about London being this beautiful thing but he is talking form the
panoramic view above it all and more than that he is talking whilst
London is asleep leaving us to believe that it will be different, more
like Blake's poem once London re-awakens. He talks from a moment in
the revolution where ' This city now doth, like a garment, wear…'
implying it is superficial and normally the city isn't like that. So
when looking deeper in to both poems there is an ironic ulterior
meaning there which connect the two.
I do not know how without being culpably particular I can give my Reader a more exact notion of the style in which I wished these poems to be written, than by informing him that I have at all times endeavored to look steadily at my subject; consequently, I hope that there is in these Poems little falsehood of description, and my ideas are expressed in language fitted to their respective importance. Something I must have gained by this practice, as it is friendly to one property of all good poetry, namely, good sense; but it has necessarily cut me off from a large portion of phrases and figures of speech which from father to son have long been regarded as the common inheritance of Poets.
In line 17 the word “hearse” is used as a car to take the bride to the
The poem "London" by William Blake paints a frightening, dark picture of the eighteenth century London, a picture of war, poverty and pain. Written in the historical context of the English crusade against France in 1793, William Blake cries out with vivid analogies and images against the repressive and hypocritical English society. He accuses the government, the clergy and the crown of failing their mandate to serve people. Blake confronts the reader in an apocalyptic picture with the devastating consequences of diseasing the creative capabilities of a society.
Poetry Comparison on Wordsworth's Lucy and Tennyson's Dark house, by which once more I stand
angered him and inspired him to convey his ideas and feelings through the poem 'London'. In the poem, Blake travels through London and describes what he sees. And as a result, he sees a severely oppressed society that is caused by the authority, such as royalty, and the church. This is as Blake sees. that even the streets and the thames are 'chartered' and governed.
poem is about only a small snapshot of the city, when it is very quiet
?London? is a poem of serious social satire directed against social institutions. According to Blake author Michael Phillips ?it is a poem whose moral realism is so severe that it is raised to the intensity of apocalyptic vision.? Blake becomes more specific in his descriptions of the prevalent evil and moral decay of society as the poem progresses. Blake?s informative nature is clearly evident in ?London? as he ?points the finger? and exposes powerful institutions.
The poems ‘lines composed on Westminster Bridge’ and ‘London’ are created by William Wordsworth and William Blake respectively. Wordsworth’s work originated in the eighteenth century and he himself lived in the countryside, and rarely visited large cities such as London. This is reflected on his poem, making it personal to his experience in London, however William Blake on the other hand had a vast knowledge of London and was actually a London poet, which allowed him to express his views of London from a Londoner’s point of view. I therefore will be examining comparisons in both poems, as well as their contrasting views of London and the poetic devices used to express their opinions.
In "London", William Blake brings to light a city overrun by poverty and hardship. Blake discards the common, glorifying view of London and replaces it with his idea of truth. London is nothing more but a city strapped by harsh economic times where Royalty and other venues of power have allowed morality and goodness to deteriorate so that suffering and poverty are all that exist. It is with the use of three distinct metaphors; "mind-forg'd manacles", "blackning Church", and "Marriage hearse", that Blake conveys the idea of a city that suffers from physical and psychological imprisonment, social oppression, and an unraveling moral society.
Wordsworth's Poetry A lot of literature has been written about motherhood. Wordsworth is a well known English poet who mentions motherhood and female strength in several of his poems, including the Mad Mother, The Thorn, and The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman. This leads some critics to assume that these poems reflect Wordsworth's view of females. Wordsworth portrays women as dependent on motherhood for happiness, yet he also emphasizes female strength.
William Blake uses repetition, rhyming and imagery in his poem to help promote the idea that London, England is not the city that people dream that it is, the city itself can be a
Children are always portrayed in books as angelic beings that are the closest to being perfect since they are innocent and pure. Many would suggest that this is not true, that children can be just as finable as adults. They cry when they do not get their way and throw tantrums that are quite obscene. However, the idea of this angelic child did not come into play until the 18th century. The poets William Blake and William Wordsworth are the two poets that coined this idea of the child. In the poems of these two authors, children are portrayed as innocent and pure beings and are closer to God than adults. Although these two poets have very different views of what children are like such as their interactions with adults, their perspective on
Authors, William Wordsworth and William Blake convey different messages and themes in their poems, “The World is Too Much with Us” and “The Tyger” consecutively by using the different mechanics one needs to create poetry. Both poems are closely related since they portray different aspects of society but the message remains different. Wordsworth’s poem describes a conflict between nature and humanity, while Blake’s poem issues God’s creations of completely different creatures. In “The World is Too Much with Us,” we figure the theme to be exactly what the title suggests: Humans are so self-absorbed with other things such as materialism that there’s no time left for anything else. In “The Tyger” the theme revolves around the question of what the Creator (God) of this creature seems to be like and the nature of good vs. evil. Both poems arise with some problem or question which makes the reader attentive and think logically about the society.
because of the way they grew up. Blake was brought up in the city and
In “London” by William Blake the grunge, and domineering nature of a city engaged in a transformation of industry, is articulated through the setting. London of the poem, and the 1700s and 1800s, was griped by a sense of overwhelming entrapment in the mechanical comings and goings of industry. This massive shift is expressed through the stark nature of the setting, and the speaker’s awareness of a sense of confinement, and malaise in the face of great progress. Blake’s choices in the portrayal of industrialized London, is one aimed to express the overwhelming battle between machinery, and flesh in a city gripped by the throws of revolution.