subject: The Great Capital in Poetry [print this page] The capital of England was powerful and wealthy when these poets wrote in completely contrasting manners.Not only this, but Britain's strength was so great that it was able to colonise many countries. However, the views of the poets were very different, not only due to their class but also because of where they lived. Blake was of a lower class, and was a printer to earn his living; he resided in London and this meant that he saw all of London; both the good and the bad aspects of this magnificent city. His life also ended in London.Wordsworth, on the other hand, lived a much wealthier life, able to freely travel, and he visited London as a tourist which meant that he saw the touristic side of London; the beautiful aspects. Also this meant that publishing his poems were much simpler due to his wealth.Both writers are considered Romantics due to the time period in which they were written; at a time when Romantics were very popular. Even though they are both Romantics they take different approaches towards it; Blake's portrayal of London shows great hardship and suffering, however Wordsworth likens London to a beautiful girl.The structure of the two poems is very different; this is because the two poems have a different use. Blake would often write his poems in a very simplistic style. Because the form of this poem is very simple, it allows William Blake to convey his message on how bad the city of London is to all the different types of people living there, including the very poor and uneducated. In order to reach the maximum population, this poet has used simple language.Wordsworth, on the other hand, chooses to make his poem more complicated by using an irregular sonnet form which is more complicated than Blake's poem.This is because he wrote his poem not to describe how bad London was, but as a love poem to London. Wordsworth does not want this poem to be accessible to all; by making the poem's structure more complicated, he is creating exclusivity and this gives the impression that only the upper classes are capable of having such love for London.There are many significant differences between the two poets. The language and imagery are done very differently. An example of this contrast between Blake and Wordsworth is the colours and atmosphere portrayed by each poet.Blake's comments on the dark coloured churches give an impression that it is a sinister place. This clearly shows the contempt that Blake has for the condition of the church. There is often a 'play on the words'; the 'blackening' of the church could signify the increasing corruption of the church, or it could be literal, as the smog from the industrial revolution would, quite literally, blacken the church.Wordsworth writes about 'a sight so touching in its majesty', which shows the love he has for this great city; a stark contrast to the way Blake feels about it. Wordsworth sees London in a completely different way. This may be due to him having only seen the touristic parts of London as Wordsworth talks about 'Earth has not anything to show more fair' which is without doubt a positive view on London. He mentions 'a smokeless sky' which shows another contrast which could be because he had managed to go into London before the factories had opened and so saw the sunrise before London awoke and blotted out the sky with its large industrial factory chimneys. Wordsworth goes onto personify the river 'glideth at his own ...' which could mean that there is so much life with in the city that even the river has become living. He not only personifies the river but the whole of London by giving it the ability to wear a garment.Another contrast that there is between the two poets is the time of which they both have chosen to talk about in the poems. As Blake choose to set his at midnight; 'through midnight streets' which adds to his depressing air of London. This is false reasoning and illustrates the lack of enthusiasm more so than if it was set during the day.Wordsworth on the other hand has chose to set his at a much more romantic time; the unique feel of London in the morning is conveyed as a beautiful calmness, and gives the reader a sense of tranquility. This air of peace and harmony follows throughout the whole of his poem as he goes on to mention 'silent, bare, calm so deep, houses seem asleep, mighty heart lying still'. It is used completely in his poetry to create the particular feeling he wishes to convey.Another thing which is a relevant contrast is Wordsworth's lack of people in his city as he mentions only the natural beauties as though the city was sleeping. He tries to show the terrible suffering of many Londoners by repeating keywords. Examples of this are 'every' which is repeated five times in one paragraph.I feel that both sides have good opinions but due to Wordsworth being a man of little London experience. Although his poem may be a thing of beauty his opinion on London is much more limited than that of Blake who has lived there all his life who has seen both the best and worst of London and there for truly knows what lays at the heart of London. Both poets work has relevance to today however as car pollution now causes the large pollution as mentioned by Blake however this means that Blake may change the line to make it more relevant to vehicles.Unfortunately for Wordsworth over the past two centuries London has expanded which means from the heart of it you cannot see any valleys or hills which would mean this line would become irrelevant with no connection to the landscape of London.
