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Contrasting poems of LONDON

            
             Analysing two poems about the same place is very interesting especially when there are two contrasting attitudes to that place. William Wordsworth's Composed upon Westminster Bridge has a very positive outlook on the city of London whereas William Blake's London is in complete antithesis to this. Although the poems are about the same city, they do concentrate on two very different aspects of it. London is a melancholy poem concerning the plight of the city and its inhabitants and in contrast to this, the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge deals more with the overall view of the city.
             There is a negative view of London from the outset of this poem:.
             'As I wander thro' each charter'd street'.
             The images of 'wander' are not of a pleasant stroll but rather of an aimless mission, and from this there is a feeling that the narrator is drifting around the streets of London with no where to go, without a purpose in life. These 'charter'd streets' are the primary functions of the city of London, showing it in its basic but most identifiable form. That London is the same as any other big city or organisation with rules to adhere to and not something to be acclaimed for its beauty, but to be looked on with desperation and regret. The perspective here is of a working class male, one of London's many residents - an unhappy lonely soul crying inside for want of escape. It is clear that the narrator has issues with the Dick Wittington theory that 'the streets of London are paved with gold' and is here showing that London is not prosperous for all who enter or reside there. Carefully selecting 'wander' as one of the first words creates strong idea of the tone for the rest of the poem. The connotations of this word are of a feeling of loneliness and isolation from the narrator, with the use of 'wander' it is also apparent that the narrator feels aimless and disappointed.
             In contrast to this is the opening to Composed upon Westminster Bridge:.


Essays Related to Contrasting poems of LONDON

1. An Analysis of "London" and "The Ecchoing Green"

Certainly this is true of William Blake's two poems, "London" and "The Ecchoing Green". ... However, in Blake's companion poem, "London", there is an overall tone of fear, darkness, and hypocrisy. ... In contrast, the speaker in "London" seems to have an attitude of cynicism throughout the poem. ... Finally, the contradictory rhyme schemes in "London" and "The Ecchoing Green" provide further proof of these poems being companion poems. ... "London" and "The Ecchoing Green" are not usually mentioned in Blake's companion poem group. ...

  • Word Count: 635
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. POEMS

Although they were in essence from the same period, they had contrasting views concerning nature. ... Blake demonstrates a dismal point of view in his poem, "London," whereas Wordsworth's tone is vivid and optimistic and he paints a sanguine picture of the city in his work, "Composed upon Westminster Bridge". ... In addition, he prefers to depict London at night so that he can emphasize the theme of London's murkiness, which represents a gloomy, dreary city that is full of desolation. ... He writes that London is unique even when the passion of emotion aimed towards a beloved, whi...

  • Word Count: 1464
  • Approx Pages: 6
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3. blake - imagery and sound

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  • Word Count: 808
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4. Romantic and Contempory Poetry - Analytical Exposition

William Blake's poem "London" expresses the oppression, weaknesses and plagued lived of the people living in the slums of industrial London. Discourses within this poem are political, social and moral, showing 18th century London as a place where free expression and institutions such as marriage had disappeared as a result of moral depravity. ... One difference is that the song All Torn Down does not place the blame for development on any one groups, it is the system in general, whereas the poem London is blaming and criticizing the monarchy and Church. ... Nature and romance seem...

  • Word Count: 2284
  • Approx Pages: 9
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5. nature in blake and wordsworth

Each verse of the Blake poem attacks a different aspect of London. ... Whereas in contrast Wordsworth's poem is written in the form of an Italian sonnet The octave of which describes the man made elements of the city, the last sextet refers to natural beauty. ... According to traditional reading the picture of London we see in Wordsworth's poem is an exagerated tribute to the beauty of London. ... It is near impossible for us to imagine it as 'calm' even in 'The beauty of the morning ;' In contrast to this the Blake poem uses hyperbole to criticize London and t...

  • Word Count: 1128
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Brilliance of T. S. Eliot

Eliot actually spent much of his time in London. ... He was spending long periods of time in London, in the company of Ezra Pound and "some of the modern artists whom the war has so far spared...It was Pound who helped most, introducing him everywhere." ... Teaching, Lloyds, Faber and Faber After leaving Merton, Eliot worked as a schoolteacher, most notably at  Highgate School, a private school in London, where he taught French and Latin. ... In 1917, he took a position at Lloyds Bank in London, working on foreign accounts. ... He died of  emphysema in London on 4 January 1965, and was crem...

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7. Poem Comparison Dover Beach

The Victorian period was a very religious age; a number of London's churches were built then. ... Both poems are structured on contrasts of idea and mood. ... Moving from the actual sea to the "Sea of Faith" the speaker contrasts an idyllic pre-industrial past with unsatisfactory present. ... It is "night" as the poem ends. "The Impercipient" is built upon a contrast between the "bright believing band" and the speaker, who is in a minority of one. ...

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8. Samuel Johnson's Criticism of Paradise Lost

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  • Word Count: 2578
  • Approx Pages: 10
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  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Poems on Childhood by William Blake

Consequently, two poems from the Songs of Innocence and of Experience will be compared and contrasted to answer the question of how the text relates to the Romantic concept of childhood. In Blake's Songs of Innocence, "Laughing Song" could be regarded as a poem that directly explores the idea of the Romantic childhood. The way in which nature is explored and portrayed in the poem is of particular significance to the Romantic concept of childhood. ... The poem really does demonstrate the sheer innocence of "Mary", "Susan" and "Emily". ... This notion...

  • Word Count: 2182
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