London from the Views of Wordsworth and Blake Essay

Compare how Wordsworth and Blake present their differing views of London

Wordsworth and Blake have 2 very different points of view of London. Blake thinks London is a bleak, miserable and depressing place. While Wordsworth thinks its a beautiful, bright and calm place to be. Blake and Wordsworth lived around the same period of time but have 2 different views of London. This may be because Blake lives in London so hell know how bad it is and will walk all the back alleys, while Wordsworth only visited London therefore will only have a first impression and will be walking down the main streets, so hell only see the good bits. In this essay I will analyse both poems.

In Blakes poem he uses very dark words such as blackening and blood. These words give the reader the impression that London is a very bad place to be. This is because he is wandering the dark streets of London. As hes walking the dark streets of London hes seen bad things which will affect his image of London. He also uses the words Marks of weakness, marks of woe. This shows as he walks the dark streets he can see people suffering. Not just in a physical way but in their faces. However, Wordsworth uses bright words such as beauty and glittering. These words give the reader the image of London being a very bright place which is very clean. Wordsworth also compares London to nature. He uses the line In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill to show how truly beautiful he thinks London is. He uses words like this to add the effect of it being extremely pretty therefore trying to get his point of view across to the reader. You can see how both Blake and Wordsworth contradict each other from their poems. Blake is extremely negative while Wordsworth is very positive.

In Blakes poem he starts off with positive lines I wander through each chartered street, near where the chartered Thames does flow, these give the impression that its going to be a nice poem. However he counters these lines with the next 2 lines and mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe. These last 2 lines of the first stanza tell us that this poem is going to be a negative view of London. The third stanza in Blakes poem is very political. Its very anti church. This is because the church werent helping the poor and homeless like they should be. This made Blake angry with the church. He displays this in the third stanza with 2 lines every blackening church appals, and runs in blood down palace-walls. These lines tell us that the church, in Blakes eyes, are letting people die and their blood is running down the side of the church and because of this the church is black. However, Wordsworth starts his poem quite grand in the first line. But in the second line he has a go at any people who dont recognise at London being beautiful. You can infer that this is what he means from the first half of the line dull would be of soul. As the poem goes on the poem gets even grander. This is shown by the rest of the poem. It shows how London compares to the rest of the world, especially nature. When he refers to London comparing to nature he becomes hyperbolic. You can see this from the line never did sun more beautifully steep, you can already see that this is exaggerated because you cant compare a city to the sun. However towards the end of the poem he calms down a lot. He ends it on a calm not but ends with an exclamation mark. Its at the end of this line And all that. Mighty heart is lying still! this shows his passion about his view of London. You can see the differing structure between Blake and Wordsworths poems. While Blakes is quite loose Wordsworths is quite rigid. This is to control his feelings.

The effects of the tone throughout the two poems also change the readers view of London. In London the constantly changing tone changes the readers opinion of London. For example the first stanza Blake use the word flow and wander, use of language create a calm and relaxed atmosphere, which presents the reader with a pleasant view of London. But, Blake the uses a threatening tone, which contrasts with the first stanza, In every infants cry of fear, this quote reveals a harsh reality for children in the city of London in the eighteenth century, also the tone appears more threatening as it dramatically contradicts the image presented to us in the first stanza. The phrase infants cry strengthens the menacing tone as young children are really innocent and gullible and cannot really be blamed for anything.

The tone in London is completely different than the tone composed by Wordsworth in Composed upon Westminster Bridge which is continuous and ever-lasting. For instants the continuous peaceful and calm tone throughout the poem eases the reader of the glamour and beauty all around London. The city now doth, like a garment wear, this quote strengthens the phantasmagorical tone created, as London is associated with garments, which has connotations of charm. The use of hyperbolic and ornate language use through this particular poem portrays a civil tone, which creates a feeling of pride towards London. In some ways Composed Upon Westminster Bridge is similar, for example the beginning of the two poems the both start with an elevated use on the English language. But the poems quickly go their separate ways; while London keeps its cheerful tone but contrasts with the contents creating a sense of apprehension and foreboding. Composed upon Westminster Bridge keeps its gay and carefree tone and hyperbolic language.

London has a regular rhythm which contrasts with the contents because a regular rhythm indicates glee and happiness, but the content is dreary, depressing and mournful. This produces a sense of apprehension and anxiety. The rhyme scheme to London is irregular which has the affect of mirroring the shock the reader as they read it! As I said the content in this the poem isnt cheerful but is depressing and sombre. Wordsworth like Blake has used an irregular rhyme scheme in an attempt to keep his readers hooked on his poem and leave his readers with a sense of grandeur and pride that a city like London is within our mist.

Throughout London Blake is forever using repetition. The word infants is repeated this shows there is no hope for London because these infants are the next generation. The word every is constantly repeated throughout the second stanza, this portrays that London affects everyone not just people in the slums. Wordsworth doesnt use repetition very often in Composed upon Westminster Bridge. But in one exception Wordsworth repeats the word beauty this indicates Wordsworths love for London!

In conclusion Blake and Wordsworth have 2 very different views of London. Blakes view is very negative compared to Wordsworth who has a very positive view of London. The varying views show how much different the back alleys of London were compared to the main streets. Its almost as if a sheath was placed over it for Wordsworth so he couldnt see. Its obvious that Wordsworth never saw the back alleys.