The two poems also vary in attitudes that they uphold. Blake expresses his concern about the lives if the people in London and the indifference of the authorities, whereas Wordsworth demonstrates a more detached view point and concentrates on the prosperity of the city. Both of the poems use religious imagery, Wordsworth uses nouns like “soul”, “temples” and “majesty” which all emphasise his glorious idea of the city. Blake, on the other hand, uses biblical allusions to demonstrate misery and suffering. He talks about “plagues”, which reinforce the idea of deterioration of the city and lack of sanitation and basic hygiene. The mention of “blood down Palace walls” emphasises lack of interest from the government and the physical pain the people have to undergo to survive in London. Wordsworth looks at London with respect and awe, whereas Blake states his hatred and disgust for the city.
Although there is a clear diversity between the poems, there are some similarities. Both Blake and Wordsworth feel very passionate what they are writing about. Wordsworth wants to articulate his appreciation of the city, whereas Blake wants to raise awareness about its decline. Both of the poets are honest about their view of life in London, and the reason why their perspectives are so different is due to their background. Blake, having grown up in London is conscious about the problems and inequality within the city, whereas Wordsworth, who was brought up in the country side, is not faced with the same problems as Blake. This is a fundamanetal difference in their perception of the capital. Both Wordsworth and Blake use the pronoun “I” to make the poem more personal and emotional.
Wordsworth and Blake both use a variety of poetic techniques to achieve a specific atmosphere in their poems. Blake employs figurative language to sustain the idea of inequality within society in “London”. By using the word “charter’d” to describe the street he implies that the lives of the people in London are controlled and mapped out by the political system. He also uses it to describe the “Thames” which suggests that even nature in London is being controlled. In contrast, Wordsworth uses the verb “glideth” to describe the movement of the river, which demonstrates that he attempts to find beauty in the scarce nature in London. Wordsworth uses further personification to create a pure image of the city that is wearing “the beauty of the morning”. The “bare” image of London contrasts with Blake’s “hapless” representation of the city. He uses the repetition of the word “mark” to emphasise that lack of freedom and to suggest that the people within society were often affected physically. Blake does not include personification in his poem, however the message he conveys does not need any further emphasis. Wordsworth’s poem does not deal with any issues within society, however it can be appreciated for the skill and structure and the language it is written in.
The structure in both of the poems is very significant as it helps to emphasise the message of the poem. Blake constructed his poem like a song with four stanzas to highlight the monotony and repetitiveness of the life in London. The clear regularity stresses Blake’s idea of constraint and inability of breaking away from the pattern. In addition, the lyric form has a regular structure and a repeated arrangement of rhyming, like “fear” and “hear”, or “man” and “ban”, which can suggest drabness and lack of variation in the lives of Londoners. The distinction between the four stanzas can also imply further divisions within the society that Blake is describing. Wordsworth, on the other hand, writes his poem as a sonnet. The one stanza suggests unity and harmony between people as well as nature. Although Wordsworth also uses a regular rhyming scheme, in this case it is not to create a second meaning to the poem, like Blake, but to create a tranquil tone to the poem. Both poets use the same technique to achieve different experience to their poems.
The two poets react to London in completely different ways. Blake’s uses of language and poetic techniques not only raise awareness of the political situation but also encourage people to change it. He portrays the harshness of reality at the time, whereas Wordsworth creates a world of illusion where everything is perfect. Both poems present London from a subjective point of view; Blake’s reaction deals with the melancholy of the inhabitants, whereas Wordsworth is not troubled by the people within London and concentrates on the beauty of the capital. Blake’s poem enables us to realise the gravity of the situation at the time and the view of the working class, whereas Wordsworth’s poem shows us the perspective of the prosperous classes that Blake appears to be criticising in his poem.
