Preview

Comparing "London" (William Blake) and "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd, 1802" (William Wordsworth)

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1853 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparing "London" (William Blake) and "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd, 1802" (William Wordsworth)
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and William Blake (1757-1827) were both romantic poets. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in the late 18th Century. Blake and Wordsworth tended to write about the same things such as nature, people and structures, such as cities like London. Emotions also played a big part in romantic poems. Often poets would be inspired by a simple view and would write a masterpiece about it. For example, Wordsworth lived in the Lake District for most of his life and this inspired many of his poems.

Romanticism is thought to have started in Germany and England in 1770s and by the early 1800s it had spread through most of Europe. Romanticism spread westward quickly and was greatly influenced by music and for many years it was used in concert halls. Today it is known as neoromanticism and is used in many things without the public even knowing. Even the soundtrack from Star Wars was based on the style of romanticism.

Both poems are about London, but based around two very different opinions. Blake's poem describes London as hell on Earth, while Wordsworth's praises London as heaven on Earth. To more contrasting poems have never been written.

In "London" the poem is written in the first person account (this could be Blake). The person notices the terrible living conditions and suffering life of Londoners who live by the Thames. The use of detracting language (weakness, hapless) drives his feelings of sympathy for the people. "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" however is full of praise for London, but does not describe the people of London as it is written in the morning before the city has awoken for a new day. It describes the landscape and architecture of London as "majestic, bright and glimmering". Wordsworth says that London is the most beautiful place on Earth and anyone who would walk past without a glance would be "dead of soul". Blake, on the other hand, probably thinks that the people who

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout William Blake’s life he came into view as not only a poet but an artist (Editors). His poetry was considered popular in the romantic period. Blake did not accept the eighteenth century literary style (Editors). He pushed the limits and came up with a new view on understanding poetry. Through William Blake’s beliefs and parents supporting his artistic abilities, his poetry was shaped into his own style; Blake’s childhood life as well as his later adult life affected the themes and styles of his poems.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romanticism was the early 19th century reaction to the rational formulas of Neoclassicism. Romantic artists stressed passion, emotion, and exotic settings with dramatic action. There was a focus on heroic subject matters employing intense colors and loose brush strokes.…

    • 14665 Words
    • 52 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Metaphors In London

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the romantic era London was a place of beauty with underlying darkness. Both William Blake and William Wordsworth address this in their poems “London” and “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge”. The poems are eight years apart and both written in London. Europe was going through its Industrial Revolution during this time. These poets see London in opposite…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The romantic period in American history came around during the early 1800’s. It was an artistic and literary movement that started in Europe and eventually spread to America. Romanticism was used in many songs, art, poems, and stories during this time. It included a lot of emotion and colors used to describe and create stories.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Romanticism emerged as a reaction to three important trends in the 1700s. One was the Age of Enlightenment, the idea that reason was all important. The Romantics believed that reason could only take you so far. To get a true understanding of life, you needed intuition and feeling.…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The writing style of the poem was influenced by Romanticism because the narrator expressly conveys his passionate…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Baroque and Romanticism

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Romanticism was big on individualism, subjectivism, irrationalism, imagination, emotions and nature - emotion over reason and senses over intellect. Romantic artists were more interested in things like inner struggle and passion, not on things that were going on in that particular period of time, it’s like they painted with their hearts and not their heads. (http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/c17th-mid19th/romanticism.htm)…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first work of this time period I will discuss is London from William Blake’s Songs of Experience. In this piece, Blake starts off by the depressing fact that generally all of London is heavily controlled, even the Thames River. The reader can tell that London is not portrayed as a happy place in the poem; everyone that the narrator passes by is in an enslaved…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Blake was a first generation Romantic poet, along with Samuel Coleridge and Charles Woodsworth. Each poet had an archetype which meant they had some form of Byronic hero within them and wanted to find a way to escape their bodies. Blake focused on the social rebel. He believed governments and institutions were corrupt and all the people had a right to fight against them. He was more than just a poet, he was also an illustrator. He wanted to combine pictures and words together. Through some of Blake’s work he wanted to show what despair was really about.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At first glance, one would assume that Blake 's "London," an outcry against the Church and State 's lack of attention to the impoverished London, and Byron 's "Written After Swimming from Sestos to Abydos," comparing his swim across the Hellespont river to Greek legend of Leander swimming the same river, are quite the opposite in every almost respect. The subject matter and the tone of the both pieces are a black and white contrast- "London" having a somber, and even disgusted, tone pertaining to 18th century politics and life, and "Written After Swimming from Sestos to Abydos" possessing a victorious yet humble tone, abstractly glorifying Byron 's "feat." (Line 12, Byron) Upon further analysis of "London" and "After Swimming from Sestos to Abydos," however, one can similarities between the two pieces in terms of their structure and in particular, Byron and Blake 's use of diction.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “London” By Usan Hlaing “According to William Blake, “London” the Industrial Revolution had changed the city for worse” (Bloom, Harold). The city is fallen on great depression. He uses dark portrait of a London to reveal the theme of people misery and hard times. He paints a misery of people and darkness of city life and human suffering derived from the Industrial Revolution. The language of the poem on how the poem was written and emotion of people are inevitable in this poem.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    William Blake Research Paper

    • 2443 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Through his poetry, the reader can get a feel of everything the speaker is talking about. Blake incorporates every aspect and characteristic that the Romantic era is acknowledged for in his literature. With the use of his figurative language, he paints vivid pictures of poverty, war, love, and other aspects of the human life. Even though, William did not obtain honor and recognition as one of the best poets of this era until after his death, the reader can definitely see why he is acknowledge around the world for…

    • 2443 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Originated in the 18th century, romanticism was a movement in literature, the arts and music. Romanticism emphasized inspiration, and intuitive rather than rationalism and logic. Romanticism had elements that focused on the awe of nature, spirituality, and individualism of the common man. As romanticism became more popular it began to break off into two types: dark romanticism, and light romanticism. One example of dark romanticism is The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Conversely, Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant is an example of light romanticism. Light and dark romanticism both present the elements of romanticism, however they do it in different ways.…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thus William Blake gives a very tragic and moving view of London and its inhabitancies.The bleakness and the dreary world of London is portrayed here. Indeed (The concept of universal human suffering permeates through Blake's dolorous poem "London," which depicts a city of causalities fallen to their own psychological and ideological demoralization,)which depicts a city of the picture of the exploitation and vulnerability of innocence . Innocence is devastated again and again. It is as if that England has stagnated morally and this moral degradation clearly expresses itself in the form of physically impaired children. Though the poem is set in the London of Blake's time, his use of symbolic characters throughout the piece and anaphoric use…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romanticism era begin in the late 18th century. Men felt a deepened concern for the metaphysical problems of existence, death, and eternity. It was at that moment when romanticism was born. It originated in Europe, yet was also in the United States. It was incorporated in strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays