Compare And Contrast Black And Wordsworth

In ‘London’ Blake presents the theme of power through a reportage. The narrator wanders through a ‘chartered street’ and by ‘the chartered Thames’. This shows that in the narrator’s eyes the streets are owned and even an aspect of nature such as the River Thames is in ownership of someone. These owners that Blake refers to is the state who are believed to have acquired so much power that they can own natural landmarks. Due to this power, the people in ‘London’ wear metaphorical ‘manacles’ that are ‘mind-forged’ which shows they have trapped themselves due to the pain and suffering the higher class has caused them. Also, the repetition

William Blake’s “London” is a poem not only aimed at speaking to the impacts of industrialization on a city, but also to the loss of humanity that is associated with the quest for the acquisition of material wealth and power. The mechanical nature of the city, and the darkness that seems to hover over and within it, is conveyed through the setting. The environment of Blake’s London leaves the reader in search of unfound salvation. The ongoing war between flesh and

The study of any poem often begins with its imagery. Being the centralized idea behind the power of poetry, imagery isn’t always there to just give a mental picture when reading the poem, but has other purposes. Imagery can speak to the five senses using figurative language as well as help create a specific emotion that the author is trying to infuse within the poem. It helps convey a complete human experience a very minimal amount of words. In this group of poems the author uses imagery to show that humanity is characterized as lost, sorrowful and regretful, but nature is untainted by being free of mistakes and flaws and by taking time to take in its attributes it can help humans have a sense of peace, purity, and joy, as well as a sense of

William Blake’s “London” and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” appear to have little in common. Although at first they may seem different, they have many hidden similarities. Ultimately, Blake and Owen enhance the overall message presented in their poems by allowing the reader to fully gasp the meaning by connecting them through their senses, the overall consequences of the event, and the importance of the issue.

In "London", William Blake brings to light a city overrun by poverty and hardship. Blake discards the common, glorifying view of London and replaces it with his idea of truth. London is nothing more but a city strapped by harsh economic times where Royalty and other venues of power have allowed morality and goodness to deteriorate so that suffering and poverty are all that exist. It is with the use of three distinct metaphors; "mind-forg'd manacles", "blackning Church", and "Marriage hearse", that Blake conveys the idea of a city that suffers from physical and psychological imprisonment, social oppression, and an unraveling moral society.

“Without contraries, there is no progression.” These words of William Blake encompass his philosophy as a writer. In his work Songs of Experience, William Blake depicts human nature as fallen. Specifically, in “London” he explores the dangerous conditions of England at a time when industrialization, prostitution, poverty and child labor were prevalent. Over the course of “London,” Blake’s diction evolves from ambiguous to symbolic, ultimately illuminating the theme that the mindset of man is what oppresses him, not the social institutions in place, and in order to free himself man must break his bond with death.

In William Blake’s sixteen-line poem titled “London,” the speaker appears to draw from his personal observations to describe the people who live in the city of London. He describes the people at the bottom of the society such as the chimney-sweeper’s and the harlots. The people with some authority that belong to a higher class, such as

William Wordsworth begins his poem by calling out to another poet of an earlier time period, “Milton! Thou should’st be living at this hour:”(1). Wordsworth calls forth Milton because he knows that London is need of serious revisions. Wordsworth then portrays London, “she is fen of stagnant waters: altar, swords, and pen, fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower”(3-4). With a combination of both word play and imagery Wordsworth is able to express his perspective of London. He displays how the growth in beginning to plateau as he uses, “she is fen of stagnant waters”. He then uses words like altar, sword, pen, fireside, and heroic wealth of hall and bower to represent larger pieces of London. The altar represents London’s religious practices, sword represents the military engagements, pen represents the literature, fireside is the society that he sees himself in, and the heroic wealth of the bower is the economic struggle of London. Wordsworth is afraid that the citizens are in too much of a haze to remember their goals, “Have fortified their ancient English dower of inward happiness. We are selfish men”(5-6). He then makes another call to Milton to help the city recover, “Oh! Raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power”(7-8). Wordsworth then begins to further complement Milton, “ Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free”(10-11). Wordsworth portrays a city that is no longer able to recover without a great leader. He speaks very highly of Milton and believes that he would be the right man for the task and that he would be able to bring the “ancient English dower” back into London. Milton was a man of his word and paid great attention to all classes of individuals in London, “ In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart the lowliest duties on herself did lay”(12-13).

and that he believes them. The poem also translates into how living in the city is toilsome and that the city is unrelenting. On the other hand it shows how the city can be prosperous and happy with the city’s disadvantages. in the second half of the poem it’s telling how nomatter what is wrong with the city, the people are still proud of who they are.

Blake’s poem “London” is a rendition of the despotism of the citizens of London. This poem illustrates through its enterprising manipulation of words, the robust political

London by William Blake is a poem characterised by its dark and overbearing tone. It is a glimpse at a period of England's history (particularly London) during war and poverty, experienced by the narrator as he walks through the streets. Using personification it draws a great human aspect to its representation of thoughts and beliefs of the narrator.

William Blake’s poem “London” takes a complex look at life in London, England during the late seventeen hundreds into the early eighteen hundreds as he lived and experienced it. Blake’s use of ambiguous and double meaning words makes this poem both complex and interesting. Through the following explication I will unravel these complexities to show how this is an interesting poem.

Wordsworth, like many beggars, is found outside of the house of the protagonist, only he comes with a much stranger request. He asks to look at the bees in the grugru trees of the boy’s yard. As odd as it is, B. Wordsworth divulges in the boy that he is “the greatest poet.” He spends the majority of his days admiring with his gaze the wonders of Nature; an assortment of bugs and even morning glories, and cries over them. We learn, from the curiosity of the boy, that the ‘B’ in the poet’s name stands for Black, and that his brother is “White Wordsworth” and they “share on heart.” White Wordsworth is the name given to the famed poet of the Romantic Age, Williams Wordsworth. Seeing that he calls him ‘White’ based on his skin colour, we can carefully deduce that ‘Black’ is not his real name. It is a name taken on by him. In the face of invasion, Black forsakes his Trinidadian identity and embraces a new, more ‘appropriate’ one, based on a traditional English poet. Like his ‘brother,’ we see the strong admiration for Nature in

A nineteenth century emphasis on the fleeting and the ephemeral makes a strong presence in the poem. Wordsworth places emphasis on the “now” in the verse “this City now…” referring to the early morning hours alone. The poet takes pleasure in watching London during sunrise; however, this does not imply that he will feel the same way at a different hour-during “midnight”, for example, which is the time of day that Blake describes in “London”. Just as a fancy garment is worn to be later removed, so is the city’s serene beauty at dawn only transient. Blake appears to be objective in his depictions of the city whereas Wordsworth’s perceptions are more personal as he takes on the role of a tourist. He does not acknowledge the city streets or its locals but rather focuses on observing its architecture at a specific time of day. The poet writes with exaggerated sentiments and his piece maintains a romantic quality to it; at times it almost seems as if he is describing a paradise instead of a bustling metropolis. In the opening lines of the poem he exuberantly exclaims, “Earth has not anything to show more fair”. He calls out with religious ardor, “Dear God!” as he stands in complete awe before the capital, the “mighty heart” of the world. In addition, Wordsworth declares that “Dull would he be of soul who could pass by/ A sight so touching in its majesty” in view of the breathtaking city. However, Blake’s Londoners do not seem to share the same enthusiasm of their city and appear

The opinions and viewpoints William Wordsworth is trying to express in his 1802 poem describe the peaceful and natural environment that exists in London, England. The poem that Wordsworth composed upon Westminster Bridge on September 3rd, 1802 references the majestic views brought on by native London. Wordsworth states “The Beauty of the morning; silent, bare,” illustrate London as an attractive place, unflawed and authentic. Lines like “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep” express the environment as fresh and clean, with a lack of smoke that would come from factories. The “Never did sun more beautifully steep” part describes a sunrise (or sunset) in which the view is not polluted by distant factories or smokestacks. Towards the end, Wordsworth says “The river glideth at his own sweet will” which can translate to the river gliding without interruption, no pollution or man made waste infecting the flow, as the river remains natural, meaning it bends, flows, and moves freely. It is the environmental damages that are expressed in the two paintings, documents C and D. The first painting depicts an agricultural environment with laborers, dogs, cattle, and horses. In the background of the painting, we see luscious trees and forestry, and in the foreground we see laborers working the land in order to make their living. Document D expresses the complete opposite of Document C. In this painting, we see a painting of Manchester England