Compare the ways in which Wordsworth and Blake describe LondonIn 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge' and 'London'

Composed on Westminster Bridge is a poem set at sunrise "The beauty of the morning" "Never did the sun more beautifully steep" and shows London as a calm and beautiful place. The writer shows London to be the most beautiful place there is and that nothing can compare to it "Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!". Wordsworth uses his poem to paint a picture, showing London to be beautiful and describing it using personifications " The river glideth at his own sweet will" to show he loves city as he would love a human being.

Blake uses words like "chartered" and "mind-forged" to show the reader that the lives of people in London are very much the same and mapped out, this creates an image of poverty and oppression where people don't have any freedom. He writes as If he is walking round the streets of London noticing everything around him.

Wordsworth creates a panoramic view of London by describing the fields, the buildings, the horizon and the countryside. Unlike Blake's poem, Wordsworth describes the good things about London. He also describes things such as the river Thames as a personification, to show it as free unlike the London Blake writes about.

Blake writes about suffering, oppressed people in his poem, being controlled and chartered by the rich "Runs in blood down palace walls" He shows that people have no lives and no thought of their own "I wander through each chartered street " "the mind-forged manacles I hear" Blake picks out individuals to show no matter how different the people of London are, they are in the same depressed situation "how the chimney sweepers cry" " and the hapless soldiers sigh"

Wordsworth does not include any people in his poem, he displays London as a person "This City now doth, like a garment" this shows that the poet loves the city as he may love a real person. By using personification, Wordsworth shows London to have a life of its own.

In Blake's poem "London" sounds are used and repeated throughout the poem to show the oppression and misery of the people of in London "In every cry" "How the chimney sweepers cry" this gives the impression that people are crying for help. The poet also gives the reader the feeling that the poet is walking through the streets hearing the depressing sounds of London "But most through midnight streets I hear How the youthful harlot's curse"

Wordsworth does not use any sounds in Composed upon Westminster Bridge, this gives the impression calmness and tranquillity adding to the beauty of London "The beauty of the morning; silent, bare"

Blake's poem gives a very negative view of London, a repetitive feel. He uses 4 beats per line to give a repetitive monotone feel to the poem, which makes the poem very oppressive.

Wordsworth gives a very positive view, he does this by using a Petrarchan Sonnet. Sonnets are usually poems of love for another person but in this he writes about a city, showing that his love for London is similar to that of a person.

William Blake's poem is written to give a social political message, to show the harsh reality of London from his point of view, it is a protest poem written to shock the reader.

Wordworth's poem is to tell us how beautiful and unique London is at that exact moment in time, and to show his feelings for the city

Niall Bradnick