Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth and London by William Blake
Upon Westminster Bridge was written by William Wordsworth on September
3rd 1802. William Blake wrote London between 1757 and 1827. Both poems
are about London, but they have very different views of the city.
Wordsworth sees the good about the city and doesn't pick up any
negatives. Blake however expresses a negative feeling and shows how it
is felt by all.
Wordsworth was the son of a lawyer called John Wordsworth. His father
was the personal attorney of the Earl of Lonsdale, the most powerful
and hated man in the area. He had three brothers and one elder
sister. He wrote this poem in the year that the Earl died when he and
his siblings could finally receive the inheritance of their mother and
fathers deaths. Little more than a month later after writing the poem
he married his childhood sweetheart Mary Hutchinson. This could have
had some effect in his views and prospects in life after all he had
suffered when he was a teenager.
Blake was the son of a successful hosier and was the third of five
children. He only went to school long enough to read and write and
then worked in his fathers shop until he was fourteen. At 25 Blake
married Catherine Boucher. A follower of Emanuel Swedenborg, who
offered a gentle and mystic interpretation of Christianity, Blake
wrote poetry that largely reflects Swedenborgian views.
Upon Westminster Bridge has a very positive view on London. He
describes how calm and clear it is and how you could not walk by
without noticing its beauty.
?Dull would he be of soul who could pass by?
He continues to say that the city wears the royalty that is part of it
and how special it is to see this place. H...
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...hing as if it is human,
even the people seem to be explained as just a sum or thing. To also
use more collective terms gives the poem a very negative outlook,
which is just what Blake was trying to achieve.
Both poems have very different views on London. Wordsworth?s was very
positive and Blake?s seemed to pick out everything unpleasant and
depressing. I personally prefer Blake?s poem as it seems to be more
realistic and if you took a second to think deeper into your town or
city you could probably highlight more bad than good points. However I
feel that Blake was very harsh and a lot of the things that Wordsworth
said are also very true and relevant but are a bit like living in a
daydream. If I were to write my own poem I would write one more
similar to Blake?s because I found it more compelling to read and it
was a lot more interesting and dramatic.
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