When Wordsworth says;
“Dull would he be of soul,”
This shows that he thinks some people are insensitive. As well when
Wordsworth says;
“This City now doth, like a garment, wear,”
This is a simile he talks about London as if it is a person.
When Blake’s writes his poem he sheds light on the problems of
London although he is a major fan of London.
Most of the people at this time could not read and so Blake thought that if
he wrote a poem people who could read would be influential because they
are literate, so for this reason he wrote a poem on the bad points of London.
His poem is not recording one moment like the poem of Wordsworth is but
it is talking about what happens all the time.
Wordsworth can see as far as St Paul’s Dome and he can see a lot of
field area as it says;
“Ships, towers domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;”
In Blake’s poem in line 3 it says;
“And mark in every face I meet”
Here mark means I notice but in line 4 when it says;
“Marks of weakness, marks of woe.”
The word mark refers to a sign of misery he says that the people look weary
and sorrowful. In line 4 the word “cry” means shout in this case.
In Wordsworth’s poem line 8 it says
“All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
The words bright and glittering describe the scene whereas the words
smokeless air denotes that it was really early in the morning and the fires
had not yet been turned on in the houses so there was no smoke. The fact
that the air was smokeless could also mean that because of that he could see
far in the distance and therefore could see fields. He then goes on in line 9 to
say that;
“Never did a sun more beautifully steep,”
By this Wordsworth meant that although he has seen dazzling sunrises out in
the country he has never seen a sunrise like this in the city. The sunrise was
breathtaking it was as if the sun was soaking in the light.
In line 11 it says;
“Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!”
The word Ne’er is really the word never Wordsworth used that word
because the word never did not rhyme with the poem so he used Ne’er
instead. Also at this point of the poem Wordsworth refers to himself for the
first time in the poem. This is different to Blake’s poem where Blake says I
in the first line. In Wordsworth’s poem there is quite a lot of negative in
order to show the positive.
“a calm so deep”
Wordsworth did not expect London to be so calm. In line 12 it says;
“The river glideth at its own sweet will”
This is as if saying that the river is like a person walking down the street.
When in line 13 it says;
“Dear God !....”
It is not blasphemous but he says this in order to show the beauty of London.
Here, with these words, the conclusion of the poem starts.
When Wordsworth in line 13 says;
“…the very houses seem asleep;”
He is stressing the silence in the city, usally the city is busy so here when it
is quiet he stresses the point.
If you put the whole poem together it is like a human body and has all the
parts of the body.
Wordsworth’s poem has 14 lines and is called a sonnet, a sonnet is
very often written in praise of something. The first eight lines are about what
he sees, hears and feels and the last six lines are about his own personal
feelings and opinions.
When Wordsworth wrote this poem he was traveling upon Westminster
Bridge, by writing this poem it was for him like taking a photo.
In Blake’s poem in line 6 he says;
“in every Infant’s cry of fear,”
A baby does not usally cry out of fear so Blake is stressing on the fear the
baby will have in the future, he is assuming and feeling for the infant.
In line 8 it says;
“.....in every ban”
This refers to something similar to handcuffs but with a longer chain. He is
saying here that it as if these people trapped from their oppertunitiesand the
know it.
Blake is trying to get peoples attention with this poem so that they can
fix the faults of London. In line 9 it says
“How the Chimney – sweeper’s cry”
Here he is trying to stress that the chimney sweepers did not live long and
were not cared for properly. In line 10 the word “…black’ning..” makes you
think of the soot and I understand this as soot from line 9. He is saying that
the church stands for religion and, thus, it is necessary to look after the poor.
In line 11 the word “hapless” means unfortunate.
In line 12 when it says “soldiers sigh” it is impossible you cannot see a sigh
so when it says in line 13 “Runs in the blood” it is metaphorical the soilders
are standing by the palace and sighing thinking about th rich people who
don’t suffer in war hence the words “Runs in the blood”.
In line 15 the word;
“…Harlot…”
is showing that it is pitiful. The harlot is cursing because if she becomes
pregnant it is like a millstone around her neck.
In line 17 the word “hearse” is used as a car to take the bride to the wedding
hall here it would be sad because the harlot would only be getting married
because she became pregnant it was not a wanted child. Nowadays we use a
hearse a car to carry a coffin, now to hear the word hearse is sad whereas
then it was a happy thought.
Perhaps when it says in line 16;
“…Infants tear,”
It is saying that the cry is because maybe the father is already married.
