How do William Blake and William Wordsworth respond to nature in their

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How do William Blake and William Wordsworth respond to nature in their

poetry?

The Romantic Era was an age, which opened during the Industrial

(1800-1900) and French Revolution (1789). These ages affected the

romantic poets greatly by disrupting and polluting nature. Before the

Industrial Revolution, William Blake wrote about Songs of Innocence.

He also wrote Songs of Experience but after the Industrial

Revolution. William Wordsworth, on the other hand, continued on an

optimistic route and ignored the Industrial Revolution in his poems.

He instead wrote about nature only and its beauty. Previous Augustan

poets were more controlled and rule governed. They were also concerned

with order.

In Blake’s ‘London’, he describes the city as being dirty and

restricted giving a pessimistic image, whereas Wordsworth describes it

as a beautiful and free city giving an optimistic image. Blake shows

how in his point of view, he thinks the city is controlled, “Near

where the charter’d Thames does flow.” The adjective ‘charter’d’

illustrates how the Thames is under control. Blake also talks about

how the people's minds are not free to think, “The mind-forg’d

manacles I hear.” The noun ‘manacles’ describes people’s minds as

being chained and controlled like slaves and prisoners. ‘London’ is

set in the night time which straight away makes you think about the

city being drowned in darkness, “But most thro’ midnight streets I

hear.” The adjective ‘most’ shows us how nearly everything occurs at

night. The darkness also shows us how there is a feeling of secrecy.

On the other hand, in ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’, Wordsworth

shows in his perspective that nothing is controlled in the city,”The

river glideth at his ow...

... middle of paper ...

...e also talks about how the church was ruining

nature, “And tomb-stones where flowers should be.” The noun

‘tomb-stones’ shows how instead of the beauty of nature, they build an

unattractive site.

‘Jerusalem’ uses rhetorical questions, “And did those feet in ancient

time walk upon England’s mountains green?” This creates an effect on

the reader by pulling him into the poem. Blake also talks about the

past beauty of England. Blake criticizes the Industrial Revolution in

his poem ‘Jerusalem’, “And was Jerusalem builded here, Among these

dark Satanic mills?” The adjective ‘Satanic’ signifies evil. This

shows how much Blake despises The Industrial Revolution and how he

thinks its demonic.

From this essay, I conclude that William Blake and William Wordsworth

have the same views of nature before the Industrial Revolution but

take different paths after it.

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