“I wander thro’ each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe”.
Now Blake talks in more depth about the people the infants and men’s cries. He writes of fear and restriction and at the ending of that verse he goes back to say “The mind forged manacles I hear”. Which gives the idea of the people not being able to think for themselves and so being restricting by the rules of society.
Blake is now talking about the jobs of some of the people in the city such as the chimney sweep and how his cry is “blackening” the church maybe due to the fact that these were young boys and girls who were dying and the church was doing nothing about it. Another group of people who suffered were soldiers but they were dying to keep the rich rich.
Now the city is at night and it is no different to the day with everyone drinking, but there comes a more disturbing vision with the “youthful harlots curse”. This prostitute could be cursing in more than one way, she could be cursing her Childs life or she could be cursing the city or she could be passing on a disease and so cursing her clients or she could simply just be swearing. In the next line you hear of her baby and how it is in distress, or is it her baby? It could just be her making someone else’s infant cry. Now the end hits home with the fact that the prostitute is so dangerous. Blake uses the words “marriage hearse” to describe marriage. Does he want us to think that the harlot has passed on infection to the bridegroom? Or is he likening marriage to death?
The way in which Blake sets out his poem is simple, almost like a child’s poem, but it is strong and also I believe very factual and informative. That was the bad aspects of London from Blake’s point of view. Now hear Wordsworth’s views and then we can compare and possibly notice patterns or points they share or differ on.
The first two lines of Wordsworth’s poem “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge” tell of wonder and how he is stunned by the beauty of the buildings and is appalled by how people could walk past these buildings and not pay any attention to them. These people in his opinion would be “dull of soul”.
In the next few lines some of the words that impress are “touching, majesty, garment, beauty, silent and bare”. “A sight so touching in its majesty” is the next line and it speaks with a feeling of respect and pride for the architecture. Wordsworth then tells us that the city is wearing a garment of sunshine in the morning but yet it is in full glory. It is silent and bare but still beautiful.
Briefly Wordsworth tells of some of the sites “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples.” But then he describes the openness of them and how they are complimented by the surrounding fields.
I think Wordsworth was mostly ether a tourist or country lad to have aired these opinions whereas Blake got in to the heart of London and then passed judgement. Maybe Blake was a Londoner and so he witnesses this every day and so knows London but yet he is still appalled by it.
Wordsworth and Blake both talk about the buildings and have conflicting ideas. Blake sees them as ether bloodstained or soot stained, metaphorically speaking, where as Wordsworth notices them as things of beauty and majesty. Also both of the poets talk about the people. At lest they have an opinion in common where they both see society in London, as a mockery to the human race, be it men of the court, cloth or normal townsfolk.
They both paint very different pictures. One poem speaks of happiness and beauty,
the other of revolting grimness and misery.