Compare and contrast the three portrayals of London in Blake’s

Compare and contrast the three portrayals of London in Blake’s

London, Wordsworth’s Composed Upon Westminster Bridge and

Johnson’s Inglan Is A Bitch.

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In “London”, Blake creates the image that London is a very grim

place. He describes it, as having mapped out streets, even the river

Thames is not flowing along its natural route, the whole place is

unnatural, and false. All Blake can see is misery everywhere. This

is made very clear by the repetition of the word “every”:

“In every cry of every man,

In every infant’s cry of fear,

In every voice, in every ban,

The mind-forg’d manacles I hear.”

He uses repetition to get the message across that he sees real misery

everywhere he looks, and in everything he hears. It gets the message

into your mind. Also, “in every ban” is a public declaration, saying

that everything about the place is made so that people are miserable.

Blake goes on to say how London is a very dirty place; “black’ning

church appals” creates the image of dirt being everywhere, even on

churches, which are normally seen as places that are not left to get

dirty.

Clearly, Blake does not like London, and uses imagery to show this.

With use of repetition, vivid images of the dirty, and miserable place

he sees are created.

Wordsworth however, has a very different approach to London. He sees

it as the finest place on Earth, and that never before has he seen a

place that really is so beautiful as London. He says that if you don’t

see London as being like this, then you have no soul, no feelings.

There is a very positive approach to the poem. “The beauty of the

morning” and “majesty” used to build a picture of what he sees. “Like

a garment” is a simile used to make it sound alive.

Here you see a complete contrast to the way Blake sees London.

Blake's misery and dullness, now seen as happiness and beauty.

Wordsworth describes the Thames as being very natural, as flowing at

its own will. Blake describes it as chartered, and unnatural. A

complete contrast. In Wordsworth’s poem, there is no dirt, just clean

“smokeless” air. The buildings are alive in Wordsworth’s poem, but

not in Blake's. It is as if the two poets, are writing about a

completely different place, even though they are writing about the

same place at around the same time, the 19th century.

However, and important factor we can take into account, is the time of

day that the poems are describing. Wordsworth’s poem is written early

in the morning, just as the sun is rising.