Explore the different ways the poets describe the city of London in

Explore the different ways the poets describe the city of London in

their poems.

Explore the different ways the poets describe the city of London in

their poems. You should consider the poems equally and use the texts

to support your ideas.

The poems ‘London’ by William Blake and ‘composed upon Westminster

Bridge’ by William Wordsworth are both a description of the same city,

however they both take opposite viewpoints when describing their own

perception.

In the poem ‘London’, Blake takes a negative view of the city. He

presents the people as being unhappy, in the first stanza he talks of

“marks of weakness, marks of woe” this suggests misery and perhaps

failure. The negativity is emphasised by the repetition in the

sentence and the alliteration on the w. Wordsworth however sheds a

different light on the city, immediately showing appreciation. He uses

some quite royal and perhaps religious language such as “majesty” and

“temples”. This is a suggestion towards the beauty underneath the

normal images of London, portraying the city as being like a kingdom.

It brings in the idea of belief, opposing the idea of “weakness” in

Blake’s poem ‘London’.

In this poem, Blake talks of a “black’ning church” this suggests

poverty and destruction. Blackened literally by the smoke and

pollution in the air, and perhaps blackened metaphorically by the

misery within the city. The colour black immediately brings bad

thoughts to the mind, thoughts of danger and despair. On the contrary,

Wordsworth appeals to the reader’s senses by describing the sun as

“bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. This differs

dramatically to Blake’s description as it brings a bright sense of

colour to the mind and a feeling of warm...

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... is there a different perception of the city between the poems,

but a different time of day, and a different effect on it’s readers.

Both poems end on incredibly different notes, Wordsworth sums up the

splendour of London using the line “and all that mighty heart is lying

still”. This suggests that the peace in the city is always there, even

when the bustle of the city awakens. ‘London’ however, ends with a

negative tone, speaking of a young prostitute; this creates a very

emotive and powerful end to the poem. Outlining the distressing view

of the city.

In comparison, although both poets are relating to the same place,

they describe them as being totally different, based on their own

opinions. This could be because of the time of day or perhaps because

of their own experiences but their imagery both shed totally different

light on the city of London.