The way in which London is described in both poems is very definite and put across in incredibly different ways. As both poets are romantics you could expect the poems to be of the same variety, however this is not the case. In Wordsworth’s “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” the language is blissful and uses nature and scenery as a incentive to show the emotions of contentment and tranquillity. Whereas in Blake’s “London” the language is dismal and negative, this invokes emotions of misery and hopelessness.
The first poem I will be analysing is “London” by William Blake. This poem is written in a regular, flowing rhythm. Each stanza is composed of four lines, which are made up of seven or eight syllables each. This is a controlled formation which symbolises the tightly controlled “ chartered ” formation of London at this time. The feeling of being trapped in this civilisation is presented through the regular and repetitive pace of the stanzas. These repetitive stanzas symbolise the fact that in Blake’s opinion London had no individuality and character, as the whole city was identical. The poem repeats the word ‘every’ multiple times, this shows that Blake thought that everything was very cyclical.
In the first stanza Blake uses he words “ I wander ”, this implies that this poem is written about his own personal experiences and thoughts. “ Wander ” suggests he is walking in a disorganized way, with no real direction. In this stanza the word “ chartered ” is also repeated, this is emphasising the fact Blake feels London is controlled and mapped out. As Blake describes the scene he uses the word “ mark(s) ” more than once to emphasise the point that the whole city is blemished and imperfect. There is also alliteration in this stanza. “ marks of weakness, marks of woe ”. the word woe is also further emphasised by being the end word in the stanza which rhymes with the end word of the second line.
In the second stanza the first three lines are started in the same way “ in every ”. This is done because Blake wants to show that everything is the same not just some things. Another repeated word is “ cry ”, this is an emphasis of what he can hear as he walks through London. He can hear the same sounds. In this stanza there is also strong metaphor “ mind forged manacles ”. this shows that the people of London have created their own chains, and blemished their own imperfect lives.
Stanza three moves on to explain suffering in London. Blake describes the church as being “ Blackened ”, this could mean it is black with pollution or that the church and religion itself is black. Blake has a low opinion of the king as he describes the scene of a soldier slumped against the palace with “ blood down palace walls ”.
Blake also uses alliteration of the letter S while describing the soldier, this is emphasis on the scene that has been written.
Stanza four is enraged with emotion and corruption. “ youthful ” and “ Harlot ” is a juxtaposition. In this stanza there is also a lot of powerful sounds like “ Blasts ”. these sounds create an impact on the reader by shocking them and adding emotion. In the final line of this stanza there is another juxtaposition. “ marriage ” and “ Hearse ”. This is strange because one evokes an emotion of happiness and one the emotion of sadness. This may suggest that Blake’s opinion is that everything that is happy will end in sadness.
In this poem the overall feeling is corruption and sorrow. This poem describe London as a desolate city in which only suffering occurs. Blake show angry towards the church, religion and the city itself for the way it is even though he is a romantic poet. He describes the way he feels emotionally throughout the poem and often describes his sympathy for the youthful children being born into the cruel civilisation.
The Second poem I will be analysing is “ Composed upon Westminster Bridge ” by William Wordsworth. Wordsworth was not a Londoner. He wrote the poem on the elevated bridge and looked down at the city at sunrise. Like most romantics he uses nature and the beauty of natural scenery to paint an aluminous picture in the readers mind.
This poem has 14 lines, a sonnet. A sonnet is associated with romance and love, as it is in this poem. .It has a regular pattern and also uses rhyme.
In lines one, two and three the words used to describe London are beautiful and serene. Wordsworth suggest that all place’s should be like this as it is almost perfect, with no natural or man-made blemish.
In lines four, five, six, seven and eight Wordsworth goes on to describe the elements that make up the city as a flawless landscape. He uses a simile to symbolise the multi-tonal dimension of the scene which he can see. He say’s “ This city now doth, like a garment wear. ” This is personification also as the city can physically wear clothing. He also describes the smokeless air, a contradiction to Blake’s view of the “ Blackened ” air.
In lines nine, ten and eleven Wordsworth describes the sunrise which he can see. He describes it as if it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, the words the uses are passionate and loving towards the scene before him. This is again a contradiction of Blake’s view towards the city.
In the last lines of the poem, twelve, thirteen and fourteen, The positive view of the city rounds to a close’s with a biblical reference to God, as if Wordsworth felt the scene were almost heavenly like time were standing still just so he could look at view for one more moment. Wordsworth uses the word heart as if relating the city to love and passion.
In my opinion William Blake has capture the true form of the Urban London City at this time, however Wordsworth has used passion and meaning to entice the reader making the second poem more enjoyable to read. The purpose of Blake’s poem was to express his anger towards the things making London so corrupt maybe to change them. The purpose of Wordsworths sonnet was to capture true natural beauty in something he was seeing from and elevated bridge, looking down on the scene.
