Westminster Bridge and London

The poems ‘lines composed on Westminster Bridge’ and ‘London’ are created by William Wordsworth and William Blake respectively. Wordsworth’s work originated in the eighteenth century and he himself lived in the countryside, and rarely visited large cities such as London. This is reflected on his poem, making it personal to his experience in London, however William Blake on the other hand had a vast knowledge of London and was actually a London poet, which allowed him to express his views of London from a Londoner’s point of view. I therefore will be examining comparisons in both poems, as well as their contrasting views of London and the poetic devices used to express their opinions.

Wordsworth believed in pantheism, the religion of nature, meaning he believed that nature depicted religion as well as the atmosphere of a particular place. He believed that a positive atmosphere and healthy nature depicted a strong religious vibe of that area, proving the good qualities of it. Wordsworth incorporated this belief into his poem, as he states that the area of London was ‘Bright and glittering’, and that the area was full of ‘smokeless air’. These words show the positivity of London through Wordsworth’s eyes, illustrating his belief of London being a nice and religious area.

Conversely, Blake had very different and traditional views on religion. He strongly believed in the power of God, unlike Wordsworth’s belief in Pantheism. He believed that only God had the power to commit acts of power, and that the city of London was actually a negative, horrible place full of corruption due to people with power. He depicts this message by the using personification by stating:

‘Blood runs down palace walls’

Showing that blood of soldiers from t...

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...sts of ten syllables. Blake’s poem differs in this way as it does not contain an iambic pentameter however, it does contain rhyming couplets, which are a very simple way to allow a poem to flow easily and make it enjoyable for the reader such as the lines:

‘In every cry of every man,’

‘In every voice, in every ban’

To conclude, I believe that Blake presents a more real viewpoint of London from his perspective of it, as it is more believable that Wordsworth’s view. Conversely, Wordsworth’s poem does use a greater number of poetic devices, making more enjoyable to read and pleases me, unlike Blake’s poem which has a greater effect on me, this is because Blake’s effect on the reader is a negative effect as when I read the poem, I believe London is a bad place from his description, unlike Wordsworth’s, which makes London seen ‘fair’ and very attractive to people.