Comparison of London by William Blake and Lines Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

Comparison of London by William Blake and Lines Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

'Earth has nothing to show more fair', taken from William Wordsworths

'Lines composed upon Westminster Bridge,' could not be more of a

contrast to the way William Blake describes what he sees in his poem

'London'. William Wordsworth and William Blake both wrote their poems

within a very similar time, yet they are completely different in all

aspects. 'Lines composed upon Westminster bridge' by William Blake

describes London as the most beautiful place in the world yet 'London'

by William Blake could not be more different.

Blake wrote 'London' in 1794. Immediately by the title you think

bright lights, showbiz and glamour, as it is the capital of the

country, England's showpiece. However Blake creates a very negative

tone throughout the poem about the things he sees. Each line is full

of negative diction, which helps create this negative tone. He

effectively creates this tone from the start of the first verse.

' I wander thro each chartered street where the chartered street does

flow'

Here Blake criticises the government, he looks negatively at the

charter which was a written document given to the people of London to

give them rights and privileges yet Blake sees it as a bad thing. He

uses the repetition of 'chartered' to emphasise it and insult it.

Blake focuses mainly on the social aspect of London criticising the

things he sees and focusing on all the negative points.

'In every cry of every man

In every infant's cry of fear'

'Every' is repeated universalising it, the man also adds to this.

Blake chooses to wri...

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...at London is a giant person and is alive. He uses the word 'And' at

the beginning of this line to show how much better London is and

finishes it with an exclamation mark ending the poem on a positive

note.

When I first read the poems I was very surprised at how different they

could be when written in such a similar time. How is it Wordsworth

didn't see all the negative things that Blake pointed out? Or how

could Blake have missed all the spectacular features Wordsworth

described? There was a huge contrast between the two poems but I found

them both interesting. Overall I would say that I preferred Blake's

poem as it had more depth to it and seemed to be more immediate and

involve the reader more. Despite all the negativity I found it

interesting to read and found it effective in the way that Blake

delivered it.