Poetry Comparison Compare Blake's 'London' and Wordsworth's 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge'.

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Poetry Comparison       Compare Blake’s ‘London’ and          Wordsworth’s ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’

        The two poems ‘London’ and ‘Composed upon Westminster Bride’, offer differing views on the city of London. Blake presents London as lifeless, dismal and monotonous, whereas Wordsworth’s London is very different. He feels it as beautiful, magnificent and exciting.

        Blake’s poem consists of four different stanzas all of equal length. This gives a sense of order and regularity. This demonstrates that the people of London live a controlled life, which has no variety. Blake uses repetition, which gives a sense of anguish, ‘And mark in every face I meet, Marks of weakness, Marks of woe’. This stresses the tedious pace of life. Blake also shows that the people of London are trapped in themselves, ‘In every voice, in every man, the mind forged manacles I hear’. This demonstrates that the people of London cannot express themselves as they are trapped in their own minds.

        Blake’s London shows the poets anger towards some members of the community. Blake blackens the city by painting images of child labour, ‘how the chimney sweepers cry; every blackening church appals’. This shows that the church is a hypocrite as they are using chimneysweepers themselves. Blake also dislikes the rich aristocrats by describing ‘how the hapless sigh, runs in blood down the palace walls’. This emphasises that the poor work very hard and fight pointless battles while the rich reap the rewards and benefits.

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        In stanza four Blake paints a disgusting picture of prostitution, ‘the youthful harlots curse, blasts the newborn infants ear’, this tells the reader that prostitution leads to disease and plagues, many unwanted. Married men spilt up with their wives. Prostitutes have children, so the cycle continues for years. Blake combines ideas of ‘marriage and hearse’, this to show that the life cycle for people in London is death and suffering. Also Blake horrifies the reader by using different sounds to describe the feelings of people who live in London. He describes ‘moans’ and ‘cries’ to show the reader the depression ...

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