Compare London by William Blake and Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth Essay

William Blake wrote the poem â€Å"London,† set in the 1790s in the aftermath of the French Revolution, it is also the time of the industrial revolution. London is expanding rapidly and poverty is commonplace. It is a time of great wealth existing alongside great poverty. Therefore Blake describes two categories of people. Indeed he uses the most unfortunate sections of society to demonstrate this existence. In verse three he talks about the â€Å"hapless Soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls.† From this quotation one would insinuate that Blake is stating the wealthy are building their luxury lifestyles of the suffering of the poor, i.e. V3 â€Å"The youthful Harlot† and V4 â€Å"The Hapless Soldier.† Etc. The diction used in this poem creates an intense mood/atmosphere of depression or suffering, â€Å"Marks of weakness, marks of woe† is used to describe what he meets as he wanders the streets of London. Importantly the repetition of â€Å"every† in the second stanza, is used to emphasise the impact poverty creates on peoples life’s. Spread throughout the entire poem are words which imply that poverty is the dominant lifestyle. V1 â€Å"Marks of weakness, marks of woe† V2 â€Å"cry, fear, ban, manacles.† V3 â€Å"Cry, blackning, appals, hapless, blood.† V4 â€Å"Curse, blasts, tear, blights, plagues.† This clever diction not only sets the mood but effectively influences the readers conclusion or interpretation of the poem. â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge† by William Wordsworth is written in the form of a sonnet. A traditional format used at that time. It is a fourteen line poem. He opens with a surprising statement, â€Å"Earth has nothing to show more fair.† As most writers at this time would have described the beauty of rural areas. His opinion of the city is the complete opposite to that of Blake’s perhaps this is due to Wordsworth viewing the city from a different perspective at a different time of day i.e. early morning. In comparison to â€Å"London† which focuses on the place and its people. â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge† concentrates on London as a s place. â€Å"Dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its own majesty.† Implies that a person who could pass by without noticing the â€Å"majestic† sight would be without sensitivity. The city is personified in the fourth line of the poem, â€Å"this city now doth like a garment† the personification used in conjunction with the simile of â€Å"like a garment..† makes the scene much more personal. Wordsworth lists the imposing landmarks in line six, which can distinguishes that he is relating to the wealthily side of London. The air is â€Å"smokeless† which clarifies that it is early morning, before industry begin, maybe this is why he believes that no scene from nature is as splendid as London. â€Å"Never did sun more beautifully steep, in his first splendour, valley, rock or hill. Ne`er saw I, never felt a calm so deep.† From analysing both poems it appears that the significant difference between â€Å"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge† and â€Å"London† is the deeply contrasting description about their place. Two every different opinions are presented, in every different perspectives. Perhaps Wordsworths is a misconception of the reality as he is from the north of England, and viewing London as a wealthy outsider. In the other hand Blake was from London and was not wealthy. Different opinions, different times, different lifestyles are the causes of these two exceptionally differentiating poems. The next two poems I will be comparing are â€Å"Epic† and â€Å"Shamcoduff† both were written by Patrick Kavanagh around the 1940s Kavanagh lived on a small farm in Monaghan close to the border with Armagh. He wrote his early poetry while still working on the farm. â€Å"Epic† tells of the dispute between two farmers over a part of an acre, â€Å"half a rood of rock.† The title is ironic as epic suggests that it would be a grand story involving important events, but it is actually quiet the opposite. Kavanagh compares the small dispute with the great event of Troy which started through a small row. For a time he thought the events of the outside world was more important than his personal life. He compares the â€Å"year of the Munich bother† with the situation and questions himself about â€Å"which was most important.† This suggests that he believes his own lifestyle, position in life and indeed place takes priority over the global affecting events. Kavanagh creates a personal feeling by using names of local town lands such as â€Å"Ballyrush† and â€Å"Gortin.† This creates as sense of familiarity. The concluding line â€Å"Gods make their own importance† implies that men make their own position in life. Which is what I believe he is striving to do with this poem.