London by William Blake and Composed upon Westminster Bridge bt William Wordsworth Essay

The Revolution in France coincided with the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution of England. During this period the rich became richer, the poor became even poorer, and major towns or cities became over crowded. The thoughts and feelings of the people living throughout the country at this time, often were expressed in poetic form. Two such poems set around the same time and both set in London are â€Å"London†, by William Blake and William Wordsworth’s â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge.† â€Å"London† is written nine years before â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge†, and tells of the suffering of the people of London. A uniform and exact feeling is sensed in the opening two lines of the poem, as both streets and the Thames are described as being â€Å"chartered† and something which is chartered is very exact and has a definite and set outline. The next two lines ending the first stanza tell of weakness and woe in every face Blake meets, meaning there is sadness and regret along with vulnerability sensed by him as he passes people along his journey. The first two lines of the second stanza read of the cry of both men and infants. The reason why infants cry is because they cannot say what is hurting or annoying them. Therefore we are led to realise that the suffering felt by the adults of London or of ‘Man’ as it were, is so intense that even they cannot verbalise it and so they cry out. Ending the second stanza we read that the poet hears â€Å"mind-forg’d manacles†. These are forms of fears, enforced into the minds of people, holding them back from doing or saying certain things. We are told these fears are found â€Å"in every person’s voice, in every ban†, meaning that these common fears are sensed by the poet, in every person he encounters. The opening lines of the third stanza again tells of crying and also now of admonition. In this case the chimney-sweeper’s cry is heard. In those days chimney-sweepers were young children forced to go out to work by their families. They did very difficult and pain staking work for very little money – it shows their pain and suffering in doing so. Condemnation comes from the church. The religious leaders are appalled at the fact of this, yet the poet describes the church as â€Å"blackening†, giving us the impression of an unpleasant ‘refuge’ which turns a blind eye on the suffering of the sweeps. The closing two lines of the third stanza reads of a â€Å"hapless soldier’s sigh run in blood down the Palace walls.† This conveys to us that the hopelessness felt by soldiers is stemming from the fact that their welfare is not considered by those in charge. The soldier is sent to war by a ruler who cares little for him. The first three lines of the final stanza tells us that the majority of noise heard comes from â€Å"youthful Harlot’s curses/ [which] blasts the new born Infant’s tear†. This means that a lot of the noise heard during the night comes from young prostitutes shouting at young babies to be quiet because they are crying. An uncomfortable and unsettling mix is created through the contrast of these young women who sell their bodies for sex, yelling at young, fearful and unadulterated infants. The final line is an ominous one containing the statement â€Å"And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse†. The fact that we are told of how the prostitutes are â€Å"blighting† with â€Å"plagues† the â€Å"Marriage hearse† is significant – Marriage usually means a life just starting out with someone else, this contrasts with a hearse which carries coffins and so is usually linked with death and hence symbolises the end of a life. The curse and words associated with disease give us a sense that sexually transmitted diseases are quickly spreading and they are readily killing all of society. Overall Blake takes a negative and strict viewing point of London which echoes the great suffering of the day. Another poem, set in London and written just nine years after â€Å"London† offers a contrasting tone to Blake’s. It is William Wordsworth’s â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge†. â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge† is a similar poem to â€Å"London† as the poet is the one travelling through the London it describes, yet the poems contrast greatly. Wordsworth opens with an emphatic statement, praising London as he says it surpasses anything on the earth. In the second and third line Wordsworth makes the statement: â€Å"Dull would he be of soul who could pass by/A sight so touching in its majesty:† which means one would have to be ‘dead inside’ if he/she couldn’t appreciate such beauty. The fact that Wordsworth uses the word â€Å"majesty† offers a regal sense, a regal beauty – giving us the idea of just how grand and magnificent this city actually is. This contrasts well with the disease ridden city described by Blake, using such words as plague and blight, giving the city an altogether unsettling atmosphere. In the fourth line Wordsworth starts out by giving the word â€Å"City† a capital letter, which stresses just how important the city actually is. Wordsworth then goes on to tell us how â€Å"like a garment [it] wears/The beauty of the morning†. Like a garment is a simile, and in this case Wordsworth uses clothing imagery to convey to us his point. The fact that he links this with the beauty of the morning suggests to us that this beauty â€Å"fits well† with the city. The ending of the fifth line flows into the sixth line and tells of a silent beauty of all of the man made things found in a city. A complete contrast to this, are the two references made by Blake of â€Å"Man’s† creations telling us of â€Å"black’ning† churches and blood-stained Palaces. A disturbing and unpleasant contrast to the silent beauty implied by Wordsworth. The next line tells of how these buildings merge seamlessly with nature; â€Å"Open unto the fields, and to the sky;† As this links directly with the previous line of the silent beauty of the city’s buildings, Wordsworth is connecting man and Nature; the city is at one with Nature’s wanders, at one with God. Blake makes no reference linking both man and Nature, in fact we are given but one reference to nature and that is of the â€Å"chartered Thames†, due to the fact of this we can only infer that Blake is trying communicate to us in fact the great over industrialised ‘hell’ London really is, and just how much Nature has been destroyed in order to create this city. Wordsworth ends this section by telling us in line eight of the scene as â€Å"All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.† conveying to us Wordsworth’s thoughts that London is very clean, very sparkling, beautiful and new. . In lines nine and ten Wordsworth makes another emphatic statement, literally exclaiming that at no other time has the sun, not even since creation, made the landscape more beautiful than currently in London. â€Å"Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!† shows of Wordsworth’s great surprise of just how beautiful London is. He cannot believe what he’s seeing and so is very moved. This again differentiates with Blake’s views on London. He tells of a common fear sensed within all people he met, that they are ill at ease and afraid to go freely around this ‘great’ city. Which can only mean that London may not have been this great and calm city described by Wordsworth. The last lines in the poem are descriptive of the landscape and line twelve sees Wordsworth expressing the freedom felt by Nature: â€Å"The river glideth at his own sweet will†. This contrasts greatly with the limits and restraints conveyed to us through the description of the Thames as being â€Å"chartered†. Suggesting to us the restraints put upon Nature, immobilising it from flourishing due to man’s greed for industry and money. Wordsworth ends his poem exclaiming that it is so quiet and tranquil that even the houses â€Å"seem asleep†. The last line of the poem sets up London as being the ‘heart’ of Great Britain, London is the thing which enables Great Britain to work correctly: â€Å"And all that mighty heart is lying still.† We really sense Wordsworth’s surprise at finding this essential life force so still and at rest. This is the complete opposite to Blake’s bustling, overcrowded and disease ridden city. The nights are filled with young â€Å"harlot’s† swearing at screaming babies, while they’re out trying to earn a bit of money from sell in themselves for sex while. And all the time aiding to the destruction of society due to the spreading of disease. On the whole, undoubtedly my favourite poem is William Blake’s â€Å"London†. I feel Blake’s poem far surpasses Wordsworth’s as Blake offers to us a more realistic and altogether poignant atmosphere to Wordsworth’s happy and â€Å"perfect† city. I feel that his use of language and style of writing expresses well the perception of London during the course of industrialisation as being an overpopulated and disease ridden â€Å"hell†.