Their differences in attitudes towards poetry and their differences in style are apparent in the two poems London and Upon Westminster Bridge which describe the same place in two completely different ways.
In Upon Westminster Bridge, Wordsworth uses the format of a Petrarchan sonnet whereas in London, William Blake uses the format of long hymnal measure.
It is clear that this poem is a sonnet because it has fourteen lines and ten syllables in each line. In Upon Westminster Bridge the rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd and is split up into an octave and then a sestet and this means that is a Petrarchan sonnet. If you take a closer look at the poem you will notice that the octave and the sestet are simply two whole sentences. This helps to maintain the flowing rhythm of the poem and better defines the difference between the octave and sestet. In this form the subject is projected and developed in the octave and then the sestet must release the tension which has been built up. The point at which I think the tension is released is in the final two lines.
“Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!”
Wordsworth added this final couplet in order to get the epigrammatic effect which is characteristic of the Shakespearean sonnet which is a sonnet that contains three quatrains and a couplet.
In London, long hymnal measure is used. It has a rhyme scheme of abab which helps to maintain a steady rhythm and pace throughout the poem.
Upon Westminster Bridge tries to give an image of the scene whereas London tries to give an audio of London at the time it was written.
In Upon Westminster Bridge Wordsworth tries to give the reader of the poem a strong mental image of the scene. In the third line he says “A sight so touching in its majesty”. This whets the appetite of the reader. Wordsworth is saying that it is a phenomenal sight and this would make the reader want to be able to see it. Then in the rest of the poem, Wordsworth paints the picture.
Wordsworth describes only what is visible to him as opposed to what there is.
“Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie”
The dome he is referring to on this line is obviously the dome of St Paul’s cathedral but he does not say that he could see St Paul’s cathedral because he wants the reader to see exactly what he is seeing. He also says that he can see theatres which could be referring to theatres in places such as Drury Lane and Covent Garden. The readers who know the area quite well could also be able to imagine the place better.
In London William Blake tries to portray to the reader what he is hearing as opposed to what he is seeing.
In the poem he uses many different ways to describe voices and sounds. He wants us to hear the voices of the people of London. He tries to bring out the anguish of these people by using the word cry a lot.
“In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear.”
In this verse Blake emphasises the word cry. This verse means that he can hear in the cries of men and children, who were probably crying in fear of their lives as chimney sweeps, the metaphorical restraints which have been put on them. It is not clear what exactly is restraining them but it is likely to be talking of the restraints put onto them by the Church which tells them to adhere to certain rules or it could possibly be talking of the restraints put on them by the hierarchical society.
After doing further research on the poem I found out that in William Blake’s original draft of this poem, the words “mind-forg’d manacles I hear” were replaced by “German forg’d manacles” which supposedly implied George III and the Hanoverian dynasty.
Upon Westminster Bridge takes a more positive view of the city whereas London shows a more negative view of the city.
Upon Westminster Bridge is a rhapsody of gratitude for the extraordinary sight. It praises the city of Westminster from the very beginning. The opening few lines read:
“Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty.”
Wordsworth is saying that there is nothing on Earth which is more beautiful than what he is witnessing at that moment in time and that if you can pass by without being touched (spiritually or emotionally) then you are a very dull person.
The poem is written at dawn or at least in the early morning, as is said in line 5, and it is in the morning when London looks its best.
Wordsworth uses lots of positive words such as beauty, majesty and splendour. This definitely gives the reader a positive impression of the city.
In London there is an extremely negative view of London. William Blake tries to bring out the anguish of all the people in the poem. He starts off by speaking of charter’d streets and the charter’d Thames. When he says charter’d I think he means that the river Thames is flowing in that way because it is told to flow that way and has no freedom. It may be an ironic allusion to “Rule Brittania”. Blake emphasises the anguish of the people of London; “marks of weakness and woe”. He also uses cry a lot which is a sound of sadness, pain and anguish.
He also highlights the dinginess of London in the third verse:
“Every blackning Church appals,
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls”
The poem was written shortly after the industrial revolution and at that time there was a lot of pollution from the new industry and this pollution is what caused the churches to blacken. This caused the London to become as gloomy as William Blake describes it.
From reading the two poems, it is difficult to see that they are about the same place. London is set in a scenario when all the people of the city are out and about and Upon Westminster Bridge is set at dawn when practically no one is out and about and there is no pollution in the air from chimney smoke.
