Compare and control the environment portrayed in the poems London and Sonnet

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Compare and control the environment portrayed in the poems ‘London’ and ‘Sonnet’

‘Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains’. Rousseau. This quote can relate to both of the poems ‘London’ by William Blake and ‘Sonnet’ by John Clare. The poet William Blake greatly admired the French philosopher, Rousseau, and he has made it particularly evident in his poem ‘London’. However the ideas portrayed in John Clare’s ‘Sonnet’ contradict Rousseau’s statement. Both of these poems describe environments and landscapes, creating contrasting images through the poets’ use of descriptive language which is both vivid and imaginative.

In the poem ‘London’, Blake describes a journey around the city of London and offers the readers a view of the terrible conditions that the inhabitants of the city have to face. Some of the topics explored in the poem are: restrictive laws of property, child labour and prostitution.

The poem begins by criticizing the laws which relate to ownership. By saying the ‘charter’d Thames’ Blake is referring to the fact that every aspect of life is owned in London, even the river which is often a symbol of freedom, and an emblem of the power of nature in other poems.

Blake also criticizes religion and all of its failures. In his life he rejected religion for various reasons and one of the main ones was the failure of the Church for not helping the children in London, who were forced to work. In the poem the reader’s attention is drawn to the ‘chimney sweepers cry’ and the ‘every black’ning church’ walls, which implies that the church, as an institution, was unwilling and inactive to help those in need.

The ‘blackening’ church walls also link to the running of ‘blood down palace walls’ which could in turn link to the French revolution, which suggests that if conditions don’t change, the people may revolt.

The poem then ends with the terrible consequences that are to be faced as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and prostitution, which is foreseen to damage the future of people physically and spiritually. ‘How the youthful Harlot's curse’

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‘London’ is almost a prophecy of the terrible consequences of the future, unless changes are made in the city and to society as a whole.

Blake was born on the 28th of November 1757and lived and worked in the capital, so I believe he was well placed to write about the conditions that people who lived there faced.

‘I wander through each chartered street, near where the chartered Thames does flow, and mark in every face I meet, Marks of weakness, marks of woe.’ (ll.1, 2)

John Clare’s ‘Sonnet’, is about the joy and delight of the arrival of summer; ...

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