Another way Blake conveys his view of London is by using repetition.
“In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,”
The repetition of the word “cry” emphasises the misery that is visible (“marks of weakness, marks of woe”) and it is audible in the cry and fear. The repetition of the words “in every” implies that everyone is affected by suffering. There are capital letters in the middle of two sentences, which are on the words “Man” and “Infant’s”. The words themselves suggest that individuals are suffering but the capital letter suggests that, that one individual represents all the other suffering people suggesting that there more than one person feeling that way. This contrasts to Wordsworth poem where, even though there is an absence of people, the way in which he describes the city gives the impression that everyone is happy and free.
By contrast, Wordsworth uses positive diction to present his view of London. At the start of Wordsworth poem he uses hyperbole to portray this:
“Earth has not anything to show more fair”
Here he uses a hyperbole to emphasise how beautiful London is and can’t imagine anywhere “more fair”. Compared to Blake’s opening to his poem this is more of a positive start because it is showing that Wordsworth views London as being the most beautiful sight he has ever seen.
Another way Wordsworth presents his view of London is when he describes London as “A sight so touching in its majesty.” By using the word “majesty” he is suggesting that London holds a lot of dignity and respect.
Another place in the poem where Wordsworth shows his respect for London is when he says:
“The City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,”
Here there is a capital letter in front of the word “City” as a sign of respect and to show that he thinks of London as an important place. For something to earn respect it must stand out and make people think highly of it so the fact that Wordsworth has respect for London shows that he thinks highly of London and that he admires the beauty as that’s what he thinks makes it stand out. “The beauty of the morning” could suggest that the beauty does not lye in the city but in the morning itself. Wordsworth describes the city as “silent” suggesting that the city is “bare” of people which helps to make the morning stand out over the city bringing out the true beauty which is how Wordsworth sees London.
A further way that Wordsworth uses language to present his view of London is when he signifies the wealth of London.
“Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;”
By mentioning the “ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples”, Wordsworth signifies the wealth of London. This is interesting as he is a Romantic poet who is meant to write about nature but instead he is writing about buildings. He does though incorporate nature into his poem from the line “Open unto the fields, and to the sky;” Here Wordsworth sets a very peaceful tone demonstrating nature co-existing with man telling us that he thinks London is a calm place for nature as well as people.
Another way Wordsworth presents his view of London is when he says “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.” The words “glittering” and “bright” suggest that London is sparkling and full of light emphasising how beautiful Wordsworth thinks London is. The words “smokeless air” suggests that the “air” is clear telling us that Wordsworth sees London as being clean and clear which further emphasises how beautiful he views London to be. This contrasts to Blake’s view of London which was all polluted and dirty emphasising Blake’s anger towards London.
Wordsworth uses specific words to further present his view of London:
“Never did the sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;”
By using the word “steep” to describe the suns rays Wordsworth intensifies our sense of touch on London’s beauty and makes us feel the warm rays from the sun. The word “splendour” shows the grandeur of the scene showing us that Wordsworth thinks London is magnificent and beautiful. This is a contrast to Blake’s poem “London” as he thought that London was an evil and polluted place to be in. In this quotation Wordsworth also uses hyperbole to suggest that the sun has never shone more beautifully anywhere else. There is also alliteration, in the quotation, of the letter “s” in the words “sun”, “steep” and “splendour”. Wordsworth repeatedly uses the letter “s” because it is a soft letter suggesting silence and calmness showing us that he thinks London is a peaceful and a calm place.
The line “Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!” further conveys Wordsworth image of London. The exclusion of the letter “v” from the word “Ne’er” exclaims how overwhelmed Wordsworth is by the beauty of London. The exclamation mark at the end of the word “deep” exclaims Wordsworth excitement about how stunning he views London to be.
Blake and Wordsworth also use imagery to present their view of London. Blake uses negative imagery to criticise the church:
“How the chimney-sweeper’s cry
Every black’ning church appals:”
In this quotation Blake is saying that the church is appalled by the chimney sweepers and does not want to help them. The “chimney-sweeper’s cry” suggests that the sweepers are in pain and need help. This tells us that Blake is angry with the church for forgetting about the chimney sweepers who are in need of help. By using the words “Black’ning church”, Blake seems to be suggesting that the church is black with pollution. However, he could also be suggesting that the institution of the church is corrupt. In the 18th century men joined the church for the wrong reasons for example, for the comfort or the easy living. They also joined because they got a good salary and their job only contained little religious related work. Blake thought that the church was corrupt for this reason. Blake also uses an oxymoron: “black’ning church”. A church should be bringing ‘the light of god’ but in fact here it is “black’ning”. This emphasises Blake’s anger towards London because he thinks that the pollution in London has taken over the purity of the church, “black’ning” it.
Blake also uses imagery to criticise the King:
“And the hapless Soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down Palace-walls.”
Here Blake criticises the king because he is saying that the King is not doing anything for the poor and Blake implies that the King is guilty for all the soldiers who are injured. The blood is running outside the palace walls suggesting that the King is detached from his people but Blake thinks that the King should be showing more consideration telling us that Blake is angry with the king. The “hapless Soldier’s sigh” tells us about soldiers in the era of when this poem was written. In this time soldiers were being ‘pressed’ to join the army, leaving their families behind. When the soldiers died the family did not get anything, they were destitute and got no help. Once soldiers were injured, they were sent back home but because they were so badly injured. Many of the soldier’s wives did not want them because they were difficult to look after and they were useless as they could not do anything for example, many if the soldiers could not go to work and earn money because of their injuries and many of them could not even walk. The wives ended up throwing the soldiers out and a lot of the soldiers became beggars. This refers to them being “hapless” soldiers as they had nothing to live for anymore and they were miserable.
Ironically, Blake criticises the poor: “The mind-forged manacles I hear”. This quotation suggests that chains are being made in people’s heads which cannot be broken. In the French Revolution the poor people killed the royal family and ran the country for themselves, because the royal family were taxing them into poverty. Blake approved of this and thought the British poor should have done the same and he uses the phrase “mind forged manacles” to suggest that the people are to blame for their own poverty because they didn’t do anything about it, unlike the French. This emphasises Blake’s anger with the poor because they have not followed the example of the French and instead they have accepted their position. The fact that the “manacles” were “mind-forged” suggests that the people are limiting their own lives and that their lack of their ambition is to blame for their poverty.
Blake also uses oxymorons to present his view of London. An oxymoron’s he uses is: “Youthful Harlot’s” because it is combining two opposite ideas. We normally associate “youthful” with innocence and purity and we normally associate “Harlot’s” with a loss if innocence and impurity. Another oxymoron Blake uses is “And blights with plagues the Marriage-hearse.” The oxymoron in this line is “Marriage-Hearse” as it is combining something happy with something bad. We normally associate “marriage” with love, happiness, new beginnings and hope and we normally associate “hearse” with the ending of life, sadness and loss of hope. In both of these oxymorons when the two words of the opposite ideas are put together, the dominating feature is the negative word. “Harlot’s” dominates “youthfulness and “Hearse” dominates “Marriage”. Blake uses these negative oxymorons suggest that in London the evil is always destroying and dominating over the good highlighting that Blake thinks that there is no hope for London and this emphasises his anger towards London.
However, Wordsworth uses positive imagery to present his view of London, rather than Blake’s negative imagery. Wordsworth uses imagery to personify the city:
“This city now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning: silent, bare,”
Here Wordsworth personifies the city as a woman wearing a beautiful “garment”. The beauty of the morning sun is the “garment that the city wears. By using this image Wordsworth is suggesting that London is covered, inside and out, in the beauty of the morning making it seem very elegant and graceful.
Another way Wordsworth uses imagery to convey his views of London is when he personifies the river: “The river Glideth at his own sweet will:” Wordsworth is personifying the river when he says “his own sweet will” as this suggests that the river moves at its own pace because it is in command of itself implying that Wordsworth thinks the river is free to do as it pleases. This is a contrast to Blake’s poem where Blake said that the river was controlled and wasn’t allowed to move freely.
Wordsworth also uses imagery to convey his views of London when he personifies the sun:
“Never did the sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock or hill;”
Here Wordsworth personifies the sun by saying that it chooses to shine beautifully on London than anywhere else. This is also hyperbole to suggest that the sun never shone anywhere else as magnificently as it has on London emphasising how beautiful Wordsworth thinks London is and how he thinks the sun is to blame for some of London’s beauty. Wordsworth also uses enjamberment on these two lines to show his excitement cannot be contained on just one line so it overspills onto two lines showing us he is overwhelmed about by the beauty that the sun brings.
Wordsworth also uses imagery in this line of his poem: “Dear God! the very houses seen asleep.” The houses are being personified as “asleep” and when somebody is sleeping they are calm and tranquil showing us that Wordsworth thinks London is very peaceful. Religious imagery is also subtly used as Wordsworth makes reference to “temples”, a majestic sight and his exclamation “Dear God!” highlighting that, on some occasions, he feels that it is Gods beauty that is making London this beautiful.
Wordsworth also uses a metaphor in the last line of his poem: “And all that mighty heart is lying still!” This is especially effective as it shows the pulse of the very slow paced life lived by those living and working in central London. The city being full of life is just like the heart as that gives us life.
The structure of each poet’s poem is different in order to present their different views of London. Blake’s structure reflects his negativity of London whereas Wordsworth structure reflects his optimisms of London. In the poem Blake’s poem “London” there are four regular quatrains and the rhythm he uses is also very regular as it is iambic tetrameter. Blake uses the rhyming scheme abab. This is a regular rhyming scheme. Blake uses this very unchanging structure to reflect the unchanging nature of London, especially for the poor. This implies that Blake thinks that London will stay exactly the same way and that nothing in London will move forward showing he has no hope for London.
On the other hand, Wordsworth’s structure is completely different. His poem is structured as a sonnet. As he is a Romantic poet, writing in the form of a sonnet was very common. However, it seems odd here that he uses it because it is unusual for someone to write a sonnet about a city because the sonnets are usually about beauty and nature. Nevertheless, when you look at the poem you realise it is appropriate because he is talking about how beautiful London is. The rhyming scheme Wordsworth chose for this poem was abbaabbacdcdcd. This rhythm is generally iambic pentameter, but there are exceptions.
One example of an exception is when Wordsworth places an inverted foot at the beginning of the poem: “Earth has not anything to show more fair.”
Wordsworth does this to make the word “Earth” stand out. By stressing the word “Earth”, Wordsworth emphasises that London is so beautiful that there is no where like it in the entire world.
Another example of an inverted foot is at the beginning of the first line in the quotation:
“Never did the sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill.”
Here Wordsworth wants to stress the word “Never” because he wants to emphasise that the sun has never shone more beautifully anywhere else suggesting that London is superior to anywhere else.
A further exception to Wordsworth’s structure is in the quotation:
“Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto fields, and to the sky;”
In the first line “Ships, towers, dome, theatres, and temples lie,” the rhythm completely breaks down because Wordsworth stresses all the buildings. He does this to emphasise London wealth and power showing us that he thinks very highly of London because he wants to make these points of the city stand out to the reader.
Another exception in Wordsworth structure is at the beginning of the quotation: “Dear God! the very houses seem asleep.” In “Dear God!” both syllables are stressed because of the exclamation. The two stressed words suggests that Wordsworth is overwhelmed and shocked about what he sees and the exclamation mark at the end shows that he is excited about what he sees.
By using this free structure which has exceptions, Wordsworth is implying that London is free and cannot be contained just within the constraints of a sonnet. He uses the variations to help him express London’s wealth, power and beauty reflecting what he views London to be. This is a complete contrast to Blake’s structure as that was unchanging to reflect Blake’s view that London would never change and will forever be in poverty.
Therefore it is clear that by various language techniques each poet has presented their views on London. By using negative diction, negative imagery and an unchanging structure, Blake has proved that he has a very pessimistic image if London and he thinks that London will never change: evil will always be dominating the good. However, by using positive diction, positive imagery and a sonnet that has exceptions, Wordsworth has proved that he has a very optimistic image of London and he thinks that London is so beautiful that he cannot constraint its beauty just within a sonnet. Blake and Wordsworth’s various language techniques allow the reader to emotionally connect with each of their poems giving the reader clear image of how they both present their different views of London.
