Blake’s poem was part of his anthology entitled Songs of Innocence and Experience. This is one of his ‘songs’ of Experience and describes the city of London as if it was a sort of hell. This ethereal concept is brought out through his descriptions of institutions. The church is described as being “blackening” because the London air was sooty and because it failed to protect those good and pure values associated with the church (the exploitation of the poor and the children was permitted). In effect it marks the descent of the church into hypocrisy and corruption (black = sin). The unquestionable power held by the monarchy (George III) and the lack of any democratic freedom is also shown through the “hapless Soldier’s sigh” which “runs in blood down Palace walls” where the regal imagery is undercut by the pollution of the soldier’s blood. I interpret this to mean that at that time the king fought many wars which were unjust and unnecessary but there was nobody who could stop him.
Wordsworth’s poem also gives the reader an ethereal perspective but unlike in ‘London’, this time the city is described positively. The beauty and splendour of the sun rise and the effect that it has on him is emphasised by his use of a comparative as a superlative, “Never did the sun more beautifully steep” (hyperbole). The imagery of the “bright and glittering” building silhouettes is also often associated with paradise and heaven. God is also invoked in the penultimate line which further adds to this paradisiacal effect. The unnatural beauty of the city is further explored when Wordsworth uses regal imagery in describing the sight of the rising sun as being “So touching in its majesty”. This regal imagery also gives the impression that London is God’s chosen city on Earth to represent him and so any one who can not feel the same way as he does about his snapshot of the city can be accused of being “dull of soul” (poor/dead in spirit). The use of ‘temple” as opposed to church is also very significant. Churches are associated with Christianity which was only founded upon the death of Jesus Christ. However, Christ along with God’s chosen people were Jewish and Jews did not pray at churches and so the reader is able to understand the sacredness of the city and the idea that God may have chosen it.
A final shared theme is the freedom of the London people and the social values that are held. In ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’, the personified river which “glideth at his own sweet will” is a sign of the freedom which the poet believes the people of London can enjoy. The natural imagery e.g. “mighty heart” shows no corruption or ‘pollution’ of the London people and as there is mention of “valley, rock…hill” it is almost as if the “City” (capitalised to show its importance) has stayed true to its roots as it used to be no more than a small town surrounded by the countryside.
However, in ‘London’ Blake conjures up images of slavery and corruption to portray the constraints and unhappiness that the people of London must endure. His wandering through the streets suggests that the people have been facing these physical “marks of weakness” and “marks of woe” for a very long time and will continue to do so. The marks that are mentioned can be seen to be the Mark of Cain which marked a wanderer who had a miserable destiny and suggests that in a way the people of London are ‘powerless’ to change their fates. The “chartered Thames” shows how the river which was expected to flow freely with life and hope in a country as rich as England is being constrained by the state as are the people. The use of patterned repetition in the second stanza (“In every cry…/In every Infant…/In every voice”) shows that the vast majority of the population suffered the hardships of the city. These hardships caused people to struggle with their own alliterative “mind-forged manacles” and suggest that it was the ordinary working class Londoner who is in part to blame for his/her weaknesses and woes. Blake’s final image of the oxymoron of the “Marriage hearse”, a vehicle in which love and desire combine with death and destruction shows how at a time of the unity of life, rebirth and joy, the baby is instead born to an unwilling mother, poverty and despair. Altogether this shows how, unlike in ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’, London has strayed away far from its roots.
The language and imagery used in ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’ is largely visual. Wordsworth uses personification to show that “like a garment” the beauty of the city is only temporary and can only last whilst the “mighty heart bears still”. It is also a sad reluctant admission that during the day London is nothing like the way it is at night. This is very different to Blake’s ‘London’ where the focus is more on the sense of hearing and consequently his language and imagery reflect this.
In ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’ the atmosphere is one of calm, peace, wonder. The rising of the sun is so magical and awe-inspiring that according to Wordsworth one would have to be dead in spirit to not be touched by the sacredness of the city. Consequently the tone is mostly quite light-hearted and joyous. However this is in stark contrast to ‘London’ where the mood is grim, forlorn and depressing as a result of all the social evils and injustices being dealt out against the London people. This results in their being and ‘firm’ and ‘hard tone.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher who lived between 1712 and 1778 and said “Man is born free yet he is everywhere in chains”. Wordsworth’s and Blake’s highly conflicting and contrasting poems each take opposing viewpoints on this claim. Whilst Blake seeks to show that Man truly is confined by society within which he lives and is forced by that society to obey without question the rules which it lays down and the bodies which govern it, Wordsworth is quick to show the reader that the people of London really do have a lot of freedom and, despite the buildings and industrial development, still has its own unique beauty which can be viewed by all.
