Compare how London is presented in Blake's London and Wordsworth's composed upon Westminster bridge

Wordsworth was the son of a lawyer called John Wordsworth, he had three brothers and one elder sister. He wrote this poem in the year that the Earl died when he and his siblings could finally receive the inheritance of their mother and fathers deaths. Little more than a month later after writing the poem he married his childhood sweetheart Mary Hutchinson. This could have had some effect in his views and prospects in life after all he had suffered when he was a teenager.

William Blake was born in 28a Broad Street, Golden square London on 28 November 1757, to a middle-class family. He was the third of seven children, who consisted of one girl and six boys, two of whom died in infancy. Blake's father, James, was a hosier. He never attended school, being educated at home by his mother. Blake rejected all forms of imposed authority and Blake's views on what he saw as oppression and restriction of rightful freedom extended to the Church. This could explain why he writes so negatively in his poem of London.

Upon Westminster Bridge was written by William Wordsworth on September 3rd 1802. William Blake wrote London between 1757 and 1827. Both poems are about London, but they have very different views of the city. Blake tries to convince the reader that London is a place of restriction, monotony and corruption. Where as Wordsworth conveys the idea that London is the most beautiful place on Earth.

From the very beginning, Blake presents London as being chartered and restricted. Blake is suggesting that the river and the streets are owned which creates a sense of legalism to something which should be free and non restrictive. For example “ I wander threw' each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow” the adjective “chartered” creates a sense of restriction because as a citizen you should feel no obligation to walk down a street, but in London the atmosphere created is that you cannot do this, because they are owned by people with lots of money. Also “ the chartered Thames does flow” from this quotation we see that Blake is reinforcing the idea that London is owned. Even the River Thames which is natural landmark of the city is being restricted by man and is not free to flow as it should naturally.

In the opening line to “composed upon Westminster bridge” William Wordsworth presents his opinion of London as a fact to influence the reader that the Earth has nothing more beautiful to show as London. For example “Earth has not anything to show more fair” here Wordsworth tries to persuade the reader that London is the most beautiful place on Earth by using hyperbole. Hyperbole is used to express Wordsworth's feelings towards London, and he really does feel that London is the most stunning place on Earth. This opening line is also quite stereotypical of a poem written in the ...

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In stanza two, Blake develops the idea that London is oppressive by showing the effects of extreme restriction on the poorer people in London and how life for them is monotonous. Blake creates this by using lexical repetition and emotive language. In addition, the whole atmosphere of this stanza reflects on how London is affecting its inhabitants. A quotation to support this is “In every cry of every man, In every infant's cry of fear” the adjective “every” suggests simply that everybody in London feels like this, everyone is miserable and sad. This mood is again reinforced by the use of emotional language. To cry is an upsetting emotion to go through and one which you go through only when you feel truly sad or hurt in both a physical and mental sense, and this is how everybody is feeling In London which does create this depressing atmosphere about the city and not one which you would like to visit. However there is a reason behind this great misery. Blake conveys this to the reader by using a metaphor to suggest that the people in London are being restricted to what they are allowed to think, feel and do. The metaphor is “mind-forged manacles” the idea of restriction is conveyed through the use of the noun “manacle” a manacle is a restraint that goes around your wrists, therefore a mind-forged manacle suggests that the manacle is metaphorically in their minds and restricting there thoughts, feelings and emotions. And tying back in with when the poem was produced the Romantics resented the idea of restriction and encouraged the idea of freedom and self expression. And from the way Blake describes London in the poem London is anything but free allows your imagination to run a mock, which could explain hiss anger and general feelings to the city. This also Linking back to the point of this stanza life is made monotonous for the people in London because they are all thinking and feeling the same things there is no variety.

In line 4, William Wordsworth uses personification to convey the idea that London itself is alive, and looks fabulous. As Wordsworth is standing on Westminster bridge he watches the sunrise and as it does the light slides over the buildings like a huge sheet or garment. Evidence for this is “This city doth like a garment wear” a garment is a temporary item of clothing. Which suggests that the true beauty of the city is captured at sunrise. Also the pace of the sonnet is slowed down by the abundance of punctuation used "silent,bare" this allows the reader time to imagine the beauty of the sight at dawn as the sun rises. Another point to mention is that London is referred to as “This city” in the quotation. The pronoun enhances the impotence of London and makes it stand out, as apposed to it just being a city. This is just another way in which William Wordsworth shows his feelings towards the city.

In the third stanza, William Blake points the finger at who is to blame for the appalling situations many of the people in London have had to face because of people at the top of the hierarchy abusing their powers and turning away at any sign of trouble. For example “chimney- sweepers cry” this could be interpreted as Blake conveying the point that upper classes never see the working class apart from what they leave behind them. Another point in the third stanza is that the chimney-sweepers in old London would have most likely been children, which again gives a different perspective and image to the suffer and pain which the chimney sweepers must have gone through. This again makes London appear a sad and horrible place to be for all the citizens. The third stanza portrays the point that the industry is a rising profession and also a corrupt one. “every blackening church appalls,” this quote relates to the idea of sending children into chimneys, that every generation of church members should theoretically do something to stop this however they they just turn a blind eye.

In line 13, of William Wordsworth's “composed upon Westminster bridge” personification is used to create the impression that London is an extremely quiet, relaxing and tranquil place. For example “ne’er saw me; never felt so deep…Dear God! The very houses seem asleep!”
This example of personification, which suggests that London is so peaceful that the houses seem asleep. This suggests that London is peaceful because everything is so calm and quite that objects seem like their in a peaceful sleep. He also put an explanation mark at the end of the stanza which emphasizes Wordsworth’s point that London is a wonderful place.

In the final stanza, William Blake creates a negative picture of London by describing the dreadful life of a Harlot and how her life is now “plagued” forever.. Blake shows his disgust and hatred of the London he lived in. for example, he mentions the idea “Plague” for example, ’Blights With Plagues the marriage-hearse’. This suggests that even the happiest things, such as marriage are tarnished with disease. Blake also uses dark imagery to create a dark tone of the poem. There is also an example of juxtaposition in London when Blake put “marriage” and “hearse” together, suggesting marriage then death. The effect of placing a symbol of death next to marriage is suggesting that the happiest things in life are tarnished by disease, such as the plague, causing death.

To conclude the two poets William Blake and William Wordsworth present there views on London by describing how they feel about the city, the lives of the people there and the natural and human built parts of the city. Both poets have contrasting vies of London. Wordsworth's view is very positive and focuses on the buildings and nature, where as Blake's poem delves deeper into the darker side of the city, looking at the miserable lives of the people and the corruption church and monarchy.

By Sam Hall 10n1