The second verse then goes on to talk of the things you can hear in London, ‘In every Infant’s cry of fear / In every voice, in every ban.’ William Blake suggests that it is only the minds of the people that restrict them and hold them back, ‘The mind-forg’d manacles I hear’. This is not actually something he actively hears, but how he perceives what he hears. In other words, from what he hears from the people in London, he feels that they have ‘mind-forg’d manacles,’ minds that are being restricted by mental shackles which are holding them back.
The final two verses conclude his thoughts about the society in London and how something needs to be done. ‘How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry / Every black’ning Church appals,’ William expresses his thoughts that the young chimney sweeper boys are being treated badly, and how the church doesn’t help the situation in London. Neither does the Kings and Queens, ‘Runs in blood down Palace Walls.’ William believes that they don’t do anything right and aren’t helping the people or improving the society.
This poem is a prime example of a how a poem can preserve sight, sound and thought. William Blake conserves what he sees, hears and thinks about London by expressing them in separate verses. This is much like how Mathew Arnold preserves these aspects in his poem ‘Dover Beach’.
The poem Dover Beach is written in first person and bases itself around the theme of nature. It begins with descriptions of the sea, ‘The sea is calm tonight.’ It is written very simply and is packed full of images of the sea. The first 8 lines of the poem seem to base around sight, reflecting the environment, and portraying an image of the surroundings and setting the scene. For example, ‘The tide is full, the moon lies fair.’
The poem then moves on to concentrate on sound, ‘Listen! you hear the grating roar.’ A mood of sadness is also introduced, ‘…and bring / The eternal note of sadness in.’ There is quite a contrast from the first half of the stanza where it talked of the ‘Glimmering’ and ‘tranquil bay.’ The poem now portrays the power of the sea and its strength, ‘the grating roar’ which is very different from the previously used word in line 5 ‘tranquil’.
The poem then talks about people and other places in the second stanza. It becomes more philosophical and refers to Greek Philosophy, ‘Heard it on the Aegean.’ The sea also becomes a metaphor for life, ‘Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow / Of human misery.’
The poem then suggests Matthew Arnolds thought that the idea of misery has come because of the lack of faith. The third stanza mainly concentrates on issues of the mind and faith and refers to the bringing back of religion, ‘The Sea of Faith.’ It suggests that the sea has both good and bad connotations. In the first two stanzas it spoke of the seas beauty and its strength and power. In line 25 however it implies that the sea can also be negative, ‘Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar…’ Finally Matthew Arnold then goes on to suggest in the last stanza that love can be the answer. Nature is forever changing and can not always be reliable, however you can always have hope in love which is true, ‘Ah, love, let us be true.’
Both poems, ‘London’ by William Blake and ‘Dover Beach’ by Matthew Arnold, preserve sight, sound and thought within them by separating them into separate verses or stanzas. They reflect what the writer has seen, heard and thinks about the situation and also preserves it because they have written it down to remember it by.
