Some of the things that may have influenced Wordsworth's opinion on London might have been all the satisfactory things that had been happening in his life at that time. We know that he came into his inheritance and that he married so that may have given him more optimistic view on life. He also speaks of the morning, which may mean that he wrote it in the morning, and I always think that landscapes look much better when you see them in the morning. The theme of the poem is London itself and all the places and hills that lie within it. The poem was written at the beginning of September, which is an autumn month. I would have thought that he would have made a comment on the autumn leaves and bald trees and was shocked to see that he did not. He seems to view many different areas of the city as he comments on the palace, fields, places to visit, valleys and the houses of London, which is an awful lot to cover in such a short poem.
The poem covers London and an idealistic view of how it is and how Wordsworth sees it. However there are a few negative points that could be picked out. I chose the following three.
“This city now doth like a garment wear”
“silent, bare”
“mighty heart is lying still”
This might indicate that the city has something to hide and is covering it up eith the palace’s high class. Also there is the popular saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, but this seems to be exactly what Wordsworth has done. Just because there is royalty present he feels that the whole city is precisely as good. The second quotation can mean that the city is calm and peaceful, but could also state that the city is tedious. After saying that line he continues to speak of all the great attractions, so how is it that the city is so silent and bare? I think it is connected with the top quotation and that the city has got something to hide and cannot fully convey its true self. The final quotation yet again shows that this is not the real city that we are presented with in the poem. It makes you feel that the city is not living up to its full potential and that it has not yet got all that it needs to be so powerful and well spoken of.
As well as the negative points of the poem he still is very emotional and in some lines seems to find it difficult to put across what he is trying to say.
“Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!”
“Dear God! The very houses seem asleep”
These indicate his happiness and exasperation at the beauty of London; so much he is lost for words. If you speak it aloud to yourself you sound really surprised and excited, even though the subject is something so peaceful and calm. The one below is emphasizing the same feelings of shock at how peaceful London is and he seems to be overwhelmed with what he can see.
London has a very pessimistic view on London and how all the people that live in the city are upset and depressed.
“In every cry of every man”
He continues to speak of the children who are upset and how even the church has become black, with soldiers unhappiness running down palace walls in blood. He then speaks of the harlot who curses the child and marriage in a hearse.
Blake wrote this poem around 1794, which is earlier than Wordsworth’s.. I discovered that Blake was deeply angered by the rationalist approach and economic injustice of the Industrial Revolution. He was totally absorbed by passion for love and human imagination, and their relationship to the spirit. This was the year also of which he wrote the Songs of Experience (1794), which tells of a mature person's realization of pain and terror in the universe. This may have had something to do with his negative outlook on London, as it was the period of time that he felt so low in his life. The theme of ‘London’ is the pain and desperation of people who lived and worked in the city in that era. He speaks mostly of the views of the people and how they seem to reflect off one another. Blake has a realistic/pessimistic view on the city and all seems very dreary. I did however choose these more positive points.
“I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow”
“ And the hapless soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down palace walls”
These explain how everything that is contained is the city is listed. This has both unpleasant and pleasant feelings surrounding it. The positives are that the city is very orderly and is kept under mark, this would show good control and power. Also though it could mean that the people of the city have no freedom to do anything and that everything in the city is accounted for leaving nothing to be experienced. N4ext we discover how the upset of the soldier is running in blood down the palaces walls. This expresses that the people of London are dedicated to their city, even at the worst of times and continue to fight on. The bad view on things is that the blood could be the blood of his fellow soldiers and he knows that there is nothing he can do, except to sigh.
I think that these mostly indicate and express his upset most:
“In every cry of every man”
“Every blackening church appalls”
“And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.”
The poem is very effective mainly because of the collective terms, which are used. He says that ‘every man’ has the same feelings as the others that make you feel that there is no hope left in the people’s minds. Also how the feelings of the men are put across, not only are they upset but there are tears to show how bad things must have become.
He then speaks of the disgust he now has towards the church because of how bad things have become. He also uses every again to show that it is not a one off but an ongoing thing throughout the city. Also he doesn’t say black church, he says blackening. This shows that things have been and are getting worse and worse and nothing is being done about it. Most people would have been religious and to know that the church had given up on them it left no hope. The final quotation is bizarre. It says how it harms marriages with plagues and disease, which is very understandable. But it then says marriage hearse, which seems to be very contradictory because a hearse is a funeral curse. This means that Blake feels that marriage is not happy and joyous but sad and depressing, just like the rest of London. Nobody would want to get married in a hearse and represents marriages are soon heading for disaster.
Upon Westminster Bridge is a sonnet that has 14 lines and built in rhythm. It starts as an a, b rhythm then turns into a c, d rhythm. This is the Iambic Pentameter. In Upon Westminster Bridge he refers to a lot of the objects as if they are humans.
“This city now doth like a garment wear”
“The river glideth at his own sweet will”
“the very houses seem asleep”
This is very effective as it gives you more of a feel of the city because we can relate to humans much easier than with non-living things.
London also has an a, b rhythm pattern which continues throughout the whole poem. He doesn’t seem to refer to anything as if it is human, even the people seem to be explained as just a sum or thing. To also use more collective terms gives the poem a very negative outlook, which is just what Blake was trying to achieve.
Both poems have very different views on London. Wordsworth’s was very positive and Blake’s seemed to pick out everything unpleasant and depressing. I personally prefer Blake’s poem as it seems to be more realistic and if you took a second to think deeper into your town or city you could probably highlight more bad than good points. However I feel that Blake was very harsh and a lot of the things that Wordsworth said are also very true and relevant but are a bit like living in a daydream. If I were to write my own poem I would write one more similar to Blake’s because I found it more compelling to read and it was a lot more interesting and dramatic.
Abby Jones
10S2
