These two poems are both written about London, one titled 'London' is written by William Blake. The other 'Composed up Westminster Bridge' is written by William Wordsworth. Even though these poems are written on the same setting, they are opposite sides of a coin. 'London' shows the appearance of the city from the position of an onlooker, it shows the suffering of the common man. 'Westminster Bridge' tackles a different view point, it portrays London as the city really is. The rich upper classes sit on the high seats lining their pockets with the riches that the poverty stricken lower classes have made for them. All the time these people shield themselves against the poverty of the city. In the first poem, 'Westminster' this person is visiting London for the first time, he is not shown the reality of London but a slightly obscured view of beauty, as the light is reflecting off buildings, and giving an impression of calm, peace and tranquility. 'The beauty of the morning, silent, bare.' The reason we can guess for his delusion of the city is the fact that he is seeing it in 'the m...
The two poems share multiple similarities, including the underlying reason behind writing the odes. Both authors look longingly to deceased men to serve as examples of progress that needed to be made in their two countries. In “London, 1802,” Wordsworth is speaking to John Milton, an English poet and political writer. He expresses his concern for 18th century England, claiming that the English have become “selfish men” and losing sight of their heritage. With Milton’s help, Wordsworth states the English would be returned their “manners, virtue, freedom, power.” In “Douglass,” Dunbar is speaking to Frederick Douglass, an American writer and abolitionist leader, explaining how strong segregation and discrimination is, ...
of London. Maybe it is a genuine love poem to his mistress, a sort of
In the poem, the speaker, setting, and imagery depict the style of romanticism. First, the speaker of the poem is interpreted as a Romantic poet who is intelligent and lonely, but he is able to keep himself fulfilled by simple beauty. Wordsword accentuates this by writing in the first person. Next, the setting is richly presented to demonstrate the beauty of nature. Wordsword writes, “Beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (Wordsword, 5-6). The setting is interpreted to be in the countryside with daylight. Through this use of words and setting, Wo...
In line 17 the word “hearse” is used as a car to take the bride to the
Both London, 1802 by William Wordsworth and Douglass by Paul Laurence Dunbar are poems addressing the changes in conditions among their respective societies, London for Wordsworth and the United States for Dunbar. The poems are reactions to different time periods as both writers look upon the conditions of their societies and reminisce of better times as they long for the glory days of the past. London, 1802 and Douglass are poems that have several similarities among their content, however there are distinct differences between the two that the reader can pick up on as well.
Comparing Blake's London, Wordsworth's Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd 1802 and Johnson's Inglan is a Bitch
He so eloquently mentions the ‘mark in every face’ connoting the similarities of those individuals around him, followed by ‘marks of weakness...woe’ portraying the depressing situation the character is surrounded with (the people around him are deeply scarred by the despair). Blake purposely uses imagery to clearly justify the feelings of the civilians around him which mirrors his own dismay, again the cold harsh reality around him. Blake takes the reader on a sensuous journey that describes the dangers of what the plutocracy has created, how it seeps through the people around him. He constantly repeats the term ‘I hear’ to emphasise the repetitiveness that surrounds him and how he is tired of it all. Overall this poem explains the poison that has befallen on him and those around him. Furthermore, this poem portrays his sickness of the streets of London and the sickness of
In the poem it shows that the main character has simplistic pleasures of island life. ‘wild seabirds and fishermen pushing out to sea’. In my opinion the reason why I think he remembers how simple life was is because life is harder being in London, there is more stress and there is a busier life style in London.
it was born of. This then gains the readers sympathy as something as pure. as a 'new born' is contaminated and ruined by the society that the monarcy creates a new. I feel that the poem 'London' effectively conveyed William Blakes anger. towards the society and his feelings about it.
It is a known fact that the beauty Lord Byron describes is his cousin by marriage, Mrs. Wilmot (Kelly 275); however, Kukathas claims that “Byron, in praising and describing the lovely Mrs. Wilmot, is also praising and describing what he thinks of as the power of art and poetry” (Kukathas 279). Mrs. Wilmot is described as being beautiful on the outside as well as the inside, in which Kukathas states, “[p]oetry too can be thought of as having the internal and external beauty that is mentioned in the poem as well as a perfect balance of what is revealed (light) and what is concealed (darkness) to convey meaning” (Kukathas 279). By taking “a mortal woman” who is “elevated to a divine status,” it explains “the power that poetry has, as it takes something from the earthly world and renders it immortal” (Kukathas 280). Besides, “one of the goals of the romantic poets was to convey ideas not only through rational means but by conveying feelings and moods” (Kukathas 280). On the other hand...
can see the limits set to the people by themselves in the mind and the
poem is about only a small snapshot of the city, when it is very quiet
?London? is a poem of serious social satire directed against social institutions. According to Blake author Michael Phillips ?it is a poem whose moral realism is so severe that it is raised to the intensity of apocalyptic vision.? Blake becomes more specific in his descriptions of the prevalent evil and moral decay of society as the poem progresses. Blake?s informative nature is clearly evident in ?London? as he ?points the finger? and exposes powerful institutions.
Robert Browning's poem "Meeting at Night" is essentially a narrative of a man who is journeying to meet his lover. The man recounts his journey as he undertakes it, mentioning or observing different portions of the trip, each in turn. One by one, he briefly describes his surroundings as he passes by them, merely noting them as if they bear only fleeting significance to him. However, although his descriptions are unpretentious and abruptly forgotten as he continues onward toward his goal, each line of the poem contains striking imagery. In fact, it should be noted that this poem consists entirely of imagery. Every line depicts a scene of the landscape that Browning's narrator encounters; that is, at least, until he finally reaches his destination, when his focus is diverted to his lover. Throughout the entire poem he offers no personal insight or reflection on his situation, and he instead is content to merely report his perceptions and observations as they come and go. Although each of these little vignettes is of seemingly small consequence in itself, these individual images are each portrayed with remarkable style and feeling, and Browning skillfully strings these images together to elicit specific feelings and reactions from his readers. His masterful application of imagery, mood, and dynamic movement serve to shape the poem's emotion in such a way that the reader can tap into a plentiful well of information pertaining to the state of the speaker and his emotions -- information that initially goes unnoticed from a strictly literal observation.
William Blake uses repetition, rhyming and imagery in his poem to help promote the idea that London, England is not the city that people dream that it is, the city itself can be a