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

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. 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 of the people in London. The city of London is full of sorrow for every man and every infant ‘every cry of every man, in every infants cry of fear’. Also it is very negative and everyone feels depressed ‘harlots curse†¦ soldiers sigh’. Blake intensifies this gloomy atmosphere further, by using iambic meter in his poem. The use of iambic meter and an (ABAB) rhyming scheme for example ‘street†¦flow†¦meet†¦woe’, illerates to the reader how monotonous everyday life in London is, ‘I wandered though each chartered street’. The fact that Blake is wandering through London suggests that the city is boring and has no aims or direction. The reader can work out that Blake is blaming his apathy on the city itself and perhaps it is London’s fault that the population has ‘marks of woe’. Blake’s poem is clearly written about life in the slums of London, while Wordsworth, in his sonnet ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’ focuses on a more general way on the majesty and splendour of London. Wordsworth was a nature lover who normally didn’t like the cities but in the early morning he sees something wonderful and glorious about London. Wordsworth realises that this moment is only temporary ‘never did the sun more beautifully steep in his first splendour, valley, rock or hill’. It was pollution less city bright and splendid. Nothing evil dark or dismal like Blake’s London. ‘This city now doth like a garment wear’, it demonstrates that it is an out of this world experience. He personifies the city, bringing it to life, in order to show how this is a transient moment. Wordsworth also respects the city for its beautiful buildings, unlike Blake who sees it as a city of degraded humanity noting the ‘harlot’s curse’. Wordsworth sees many beautiful ‘towers, domes, theatres and temples†¦ open into the fields and to the skys’. This shows the stillness and emptiness. This is a laying affect to show that man made objects can be as good as nature, unlike Blake who sees misery. Wordsworth uses a very calm and tranquil tone to describe London. This poem is written in the firm pentrarchian sonnet, with iambic pentameter utilises an (ABBA, ABBA, CDCD) rhyme scheme unlike Blake’s continuous (ABAB) rhyme scheme. This creates an unhurried pace with a peaceful mood lacking the intensity of Blake’s poem. It also provides a slow pace to take in the beauty of London in the early morning. Wordsworth’s surprise at the beauty of London is seen when he directly addresses ‘Dear God’! Using an exclamation mark, Wordsworth address God twice to stress his personal reaction to London’s beauty-he wants the reader to see the awe of London, the exclamation mark stresses the shocked pleasure by his reaction. The ‘mighty heart’ demonstrates that the people are the heart of the city-sees London as alive and living part of city working together. Wordsworth values people, as they are the centre point of London. Wordsworth tries to tell the reader that the Thames is working in harmony with the rest of the city. However, although the imagery of London Blake creates through its depressed state and ‘every cry of every man’. In my opinion I prefer Wordsworth’s poem ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’, because he uses personification and makes the city feel beautiful. He states how ‘dull of soul’ anyone would be if they didn’t admire the beauty of London in the early morning. The way Wordsworth describes the cities buildings has a positive effect on the poem and this is why I prefer ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’.