Comparison of Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth and London by William Blake Throughout the coursework I will refer to William Wordsworth as Wordsworth and William Blake as Blake. The poems of Wordsworth and Blake are both about London however, Wordsworth’s poem was written when he came to visit London whereas Blake lived in London. Wordsworth’s poem is about the finery of London one can see this as he writes in line 1; “Earth has not anything to show more fair:” Whereas in Blake’s poem he does not write about the praise of London although he loved London we are told he sees that London has its bad points. In Wordsworth’s poems there is an absence of people whereas in …show more content…
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
such a terrifying beast?” and “Who is God who dares to make such a terrifying
these “female follies,” on men and argues, “From the tyranny of man, I firmly believe, the
One way that Blake uses to convey his anger on what he sees is through
The topic of death is either suppressed or masked in both poems. Both poems are very strong and powerful pieces, which allows readers to connect to the issues being told. Throughout “London”, Blake not only implies the difficult times that London went through during the Industrial revolution, but also how many died during this
A Comparison of Poems About London 'London', by William Blake, and William Wordsworth's untitled poem, composed on Westminster Bridge, are two different poems written with different styles and techniques to portray their feelings towards London. They are both written in the romantic era and are very passionate in the way they convey their (as both are written in first person) differing opinions on London. Wordsworth's sonnet shows all the positive points and that in his opinion London is an admirable place. However, Blake speaks of a much bleaker London, which contrasts greatly in opinion. Rather than writing his poem on opinion, he uses fact to inform and protest against what he feels is wrong
Hayden utilizes diction to set a dark and solemn tone throughout the poem. Like the various examples of imagery, there is also a strong use of underlying symbolism. In the first stanza, the words “cold” (1. 2) and “fires blaze” (1. 5) are used, which introduces a conflict. This is emphasized in the second stanza when the word “cold” (2. 1) is used again, later followed by the word “warm” (2. 2). In the last stanza, the father eventually “had driven out the cold” (3. 2). Yet the father had not ridden the house of the cold air until the end of the poem, which symbolizes how it took his son several years later to recognize the behaviors in which his father conveyed his love for him.
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.
The Tintern Abbey has mysterious powers that only those in touch with nature can see. Wordsworth illustrates such powers by writing, "These beauteous forms/Through a long absence, have not
The last two lines of this first stanza have more repetition with the words mark and marks. The speaker “mark(ing)” (3) every face is noticing the features or characterizing the people he meets. The speaker than “marks” (4) or sees a visible clues. What the speaker sees is “weakness” and “woe” (4). Woe can possibly be seen visually as in sadness, sorrow, or grief on the peoples faces, but weakness is not really a visual sign. From Websters we find weakness means lacking in strength or vigor (weakness). We learn later in the poem that this weekness is not referring to physical strength but to mental strength.
During the Romantic Period, poets believed themselves to be very politically aware and important. William Blake and Charlotte Smith are those amongst those Romantic Poets who took it upon themselves to educate the public on the events of the time; particularly the established Church, the Industrial Revolution and the Slave Trade in Haiti: ‘[Poetry] speaks to a divided society in an attempt to constitute its readers as citizens of what [Geoffrey] Hill calls… the just kingdom… and the commonwealth’.
The two poems that have to deal with the philosophies of human nature are William Blake’s “The Tyger” and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” Blake’s poem is based off the Romantics and Walt Whitman is an American Naturalist that is based off free verse a form that he created.
Lines 79-84 represent loss and decay and are another set of themes in this poem. These lines show that his poem itself is a memory; memories can never contain the original content of an experience as it did the first time. Wordsworth's intense emotional pain is displayed throughout these lines. A particular line is: "That time is past/And all its aching joys are no more". The poet clearly tells his reader's that he is extremely upset at the fact that he no longer feels that joys he has felt before, and even though he hears in nature the still, sad music of humanity, he still prefers memory and the sense of nature over intellect and actuality. Wordsworth senses his mortality and realizes that nature ("their colours and their forms...") can not renew his pleasant spirits as much as he wants them to. "Tintern Abbey" also presents the poet to an exploration of identity and self understanding; Wordsworth is in conflict with the natural landscape that is painted in front of him and his mental landscape, two major different forces, and he is trying to find an equal path to both forces so that he can find his self or his destiny. Another explanation of these lines could be that Wordsworth comprehends the way nature functions --the death and renewal of all things and that nature will one day also play a part on him. He is accepting that one day that, like his memories, he will fade and pass
William Blake is one of England’s most famous literary figures. He is remembered and admired for his skill as a painter, engraver, and poet. He was born on Nov. 28, 1757 to a poor Hosier’s family living in or around London. Being of a poor family, Blake received little in the way of comfort or education while growing up. Amazingly, he did not attend school for very long and dropped out shortly after learning to read and write so that he could work in his father’s shop. The life of a hosier however was not the right path for Blake as he exhibited early on a skill for reading and drawing. Blake’s skill for reading can be seen in his understanding for and use of works such as the Bible and Greek classic literature.
One of the most popular themes for Romantic poetry in England was nature and an appreciation for natural beauty. The English Romantic poets were generally concerned with the human imagination as a counter to the rise of science. The growing intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries placed scientific thought in the forefront of all knowledge, basing reality in material objects. The Romantics found this form of world view to be restrictive. They felt that imagination was crucial to individual happiness. The imagination also provides a common human bond; a means of sympathy, of identification. However, the absence of imagination, the Romantics felt, would lead
Some of William Blake’s poetry is categorized into collections called Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Blake explores almost opposite opinions about creation in his poems “The Lamb” and “The Tiger.” While the overarching concept is the same in both, he uses different subjects to portray different sides of creation; however, in the Innocence and Experience versions of “The Chimney Sweeper,” Blake uses some of the same words, rhyme schemes, and characters to talk about a single subject in opposite tones.