How do the authors of these poems present the city and city life?

              Both Patmore and Blake use images of violence and brutality to present city life. Patmore uses “fete” which is an ironic homophone that hints at death. Unusual word order make the repetition of plosive sounds such as “all night fell hammers…shock, of shock” implying a break in the sentence which adds pace, Patmore also uses hard, cold words like “granite clanged” which also add to the pace and mood of the text. Patmore uses a maternal instinct to show that instead of a mother protecting their children from violent and brutal images, they would instead hold “up their babes to see” showing how much pleasure they get out of cruelty and death. Every element of humanity is made violent because “harsh tongues” adds to the mood of the crowd. Blake creates a juxtaposition of death and pain and luxury and dignity when he says “blood down palace walls” which is a paradoxical image which contrasts a positive and a negative image. Tom Gunn uses a clash of plosive sounds when he says “youthful Harlot’s curse” emphasising the brutality of lost innocence.  

              Both Patmore and Tom Gunn use images that glorify the city and city life. Patmore uses an inversion of normal images, like mothers encouraging children to kill and celebrate death, to convey an attractive side to the city even though it is grotesque. However they seem to be more glorified images of the city in ‘In Praise of Cities’ than a ‘London Fete’. The title “In Praise of Cities” is obviously complimentary and it echoes the poetic elegies of the past but it updates this celebratory poetic form. It is more common to criticise the city and praise the country side in poetic writing as nature represents rejuvenation and growth whereas the city represents destructive and polluting images. The city is enticing and attractive even when negative elements are mentioned. The poem is filled with sexual, attractive, over toned images such as “Grown buxom…sprawl…” to make the city more appealing, so the city is personified as a female due to the entrapping power of the city which makes it seem attractive and glorified. The “dim dry air” would normally be a negative image but appears to have an attractive overtone that the poetic voice has the city to him self. We influenced to revel in city life through the repetition of “you stay” within a short stanza as it draws us in through a prolonged, lingering open sound and a short, direct, powerful sentence of praise. Even when there is a chance to escape, the poetic voice watches over the city which is shown when Gunn says “Watch where she hardly breathes” showing an image of obsession and magnetism towards the city. Even though the title “London” describes London with images of almost unrelenting negativity, it is still the case that the poem immortalises London.

               All three poets use unnatural images to present city life. The “damned” are meant to be unfortunate and suffer but Patmore describes them as rejoicing which suggests that they have been awarded a chance in this human realm to enjoy themselves. When Patmore describes these “blasphemed”, he uses religion as a negative image which was unusual in the time that this poem was written because religion was a major consideration then. It is unusual when Blake describes the church as “blackening” because the church is traditionally portrayed as a symbol of moral purity and light. Traditional images are often used in literature however cities are usually portrayed as destructive and polluting while Gunn describes it as “the work of man” which celebrates and elegises the chaos of the city. Gunn revels in the artificial elements of the city when he says “cosmetic light” which makes us think instead of the sun which represents light and glorification of nature there is a superficial façade or show of light.