Compare Wordsworths view of London in Composed Upon Westminster Bridge with that of Blake in his poem London.

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'Compare Wordsworth's view of London in 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge' with that of Blake in his poem 'London'

In the late 18th century and the early 19th century there were two poets named William Blake and William Wordsworth, who came from different backgrounds, but had similar ideas. They were both classed as Romantics. Romanticism means revolting against established social and political structures and against the scientific rationalism of nature and literature. However the late 18th century and early 19th century was a time of historical and social change. It was the time of Revolution. These events had an impact on the work of Blake and Wordsworth. William Blake's poem, 'London,' deals with the difficult and hard life of the working-class people who live there. He describes how dirty the streets are and how the poor people suffer hopelessly and how they are treated in a bad way by the government and monarchy. William Wordsworth however deals with the wealth and glory of London.

Blake was born in London in 1757 and had spent most of his life there. He came from a working class family. His parents made stockings for a living. Because Blake came from a working class background, this might have reflected in his later work, as his subjects are often about poverty and hardship the working class has to deal with. However Blake did not go to school. His mother taught him to read and write, unlike Wordsworth, who went to the 'Hawkshead Grammer School.' By the time Blake became ten, he went to a drawing school. When Blake turned fourteen he spent a short time as an apprentice in engraving. He also went to study at the 'Royal Academy,' but soon he rejected the traditional way of teaching and dropped out. Blake was known to be an eccentric Romantic poet. Many people thought he was mad, especially when he started to say that he saw visions and heard voices. The government thought of him to be a dangerous man, because of his way of thinking and therefore banned his work of being published. Blake had a difficult time and had to work hard for a living. As a poet William Blake was specialised in 'shocking' the public with his poems. His texts were often of a religious nature, because he rejected the Curch or any other religion. One of his main reasons was that the Church did not do anything for the poor children in London who were forced to work. The French revolution in 1789 was also one of Blake's inspirations. The French people revolted against the monarchy and the aristocracy, using violence and murder to over win those in power. Blake thought this was exactly what the people in Britain should so, to fight against the governments and monarchy's restrictions. He encouraged people to revolt. Blake wore a bonnet rouge to align himself with the French Revolution. Also as a Romantic poet, Blake fought against the Industrial Revolution. He thought it was wrong for people to be working in the factories and not able to work outside. He thought it was important for people to work with nature, to be outside and to be free, which Wordsworth agreed with. Throughout Blake's life he was staunchly opposed to the forces of authority and created his own version of the story of creation stating that, 'I must create a system of my own as to be enslaved by another's man.' Blake wrote poetry throughout his life, but did not receive any awards or honours like Wordsworth did, until just before his death in 1827.
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William Wordsworth was born in Cumberland in 1770 and spent most of his childhood in the countryside, which is different to Blake, who lived most of life in the city. Also Wordsworth came from a middle class family. His father worked as a business agent. In 1787 Wordsworth went to study at Cambridge, this reflects that Wordsworth had an academic and privileged background. After his study he went to France to see and support the French Revolution, which was in 1790. Wordsworth supported revolutionary forces in Europe, but towards the end of his life, he had changed his ...

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