Wordsworth’s sonnet is a very, romantic and optimistic poem about London. To Wordsworth, London is beautiful, as beautiful as the countryside or a more natural landscape; he doesn’t see all of the urban buildings and busy streets. Unlike Blake, Wordsworth sees the natural splendour of the capital “the beauty of the morning” rather than the dreary way of life Blake focuses on. Wordsworth only chooses to see the beautiful “garment” that London wears to cover up the grimy and gloomy city behind it. He has a really peaceful and unruffled view of the city “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge,” he considers it serene and “so touching in all its majesty.” He concentrates on the beauty and physical aspect of London rather than the emotions of the people. Wordsworth is well known for his love of nature and the poem shows this, he gives the impression of fresh air, freedom and peace by using words like ‘fields’, ‘sky’ and ‘silent’ and he mentions the beauty of London, the “ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples”. Instead of concentrating on the people and their emotions like Blake, Wordsworth focuses on it as though he was describing a beautiful, natural area of countryside.
Wordsworth talks about how the “Earth has not anything to show more fair”, he is describing that London can’t show anything more attractive than what he sees from Westminster Bridge. He then says how it is “a sight so touching in its majesty,” London is so royal and perfect. Wordsworth refers to the city wearing “a garment” as though it is hiding the gloomy, sinister London underneath. From Westminster Bridge he can see the fields and countryside, he doesn’t get to see the busy roads, streets and big buildings beyond.
In contrast, Blake sees the hideous, bleak part of the city and the gloomy, depressing emotions the people that pass by him are feeling. He expresses his feelings of sadness and frustration, he describes “chartered” streets and Thames, which emphasises how everything has been demoralized and taken over. The tone of this poem states Blake’s consciousness of the poverty around him “marks of weakness, marks of woe”. The grief he feels turns to aggression as the poem continues, criticising the Church and even the dishonesty of marriage. “And blights with plagues the marriage hearse”. There is a hopelessness and fear uttered within this poem.
Throughout the second verse, Blake repeats the word “every” many times, this is to emphasise the fact that this pain is inflicted to everybody who lives in London. “Infant’s cry of fear” suggests the city’s lose of innocence and proves it’s not safe. In the third verse, he says about “how the chimney-sweeper’s cry, every blackening church appals.” Chimney sweepers work from a really young age and often have a short, miserable life, he mentions a “hapless soldier’s sigh,” both of these examples emphasise the dangers Blake sees in the city in contrast to Wordsworth who doesn’t see any of these dangers and issues in London.
Wordsworth shows the reader how the surroundings make him feel by commenting “Ne’er I saw, never felt, a calm so deep!” this gives a further direct calming effect on the reader. Wordsworth uses phrases such as “bright and glistening in the smokeless air” and “the beauty of the morning; silent, bare” to set a scene of calm, glistening beauty. In comparison Blake uses words like “streets” twice in context with “midnight” and “chartered”. His repetition of the word “streets” is to suggest that there are streets upon streets creating a dull similarity to everything, his repetition on “chartered” strengthens his view of oddness in London. Both writers improve their scenery by indicating at colours to set a more vivid picture “blood”, “midnight”, “blackening,” these are all words used by Blake, ideas of the colours red and black which create a gloomy surrounding.
In conclusion I think that both poems are very well-written and powerful, although their views of London are very different they both work well. Blake sees the gloomy, dark side to the city and people’s emotions, whereas Wordsworth’s view is that it is beautiful and natural-he sees fields and beauty. The different views they have could be because of their backgrounds and where they grew up as Wordsworth grew up in the North England countryside and Blake was born and bred in the middle of London itself.