Comparison of Composed Upon West Minster Bridge and London
Comparison Of “Composed Upon West Minster Bridge” And “London”
In major cities across the world, glamour, money, prestige and opportunity flourish. However, in many of these cities, this is only the lining which hides away the other side of the city. The two poems are “West Minster Bridge” by William Wordsworth, and “London”, by William Blake. These are two poems a are about the capital city of England, London. It shows the appearance in one, and the reality in the other. “London” shows the pain and the plight of the common man, whereas “Composed upon West Minster Bridge,” displays how the rich thrive and prosper, by creating a smoke screen to hide themselves from this poverty.
The first poem is some one who is visiting London for the first time, and has lived in the country. He has expectations of a grubby, smoky place, yet is greeted by a slightly diluted view of London. He is show a view of beauty, as the light is reflecting of buildings, and giving an impression of calm peace and tranquility.
“ The beauty of the morning, silent, bare…”
However, as he says “morning”, we could come to the conclusion that as it is early, the city has not yet woken up to life, and Blake is seeing the naked; the inhabitants which make it the thriving city it is have not risen from the beds, to bring the city out of its sleep.
The second poem is the total opposite of the colorful and tranquil city that Wordsworth portrays. Blake, an inhabitant of London all of his life, know the truth about the city form hand on experience, the poverty and the suffering which happens there, He describes with lots of imagery the plight that the working class people face.
“ I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow…”
This sentence not only cast an image of silence and cold, but tells us of how their plight is made worse by the rich extorting as much money as possibly from those who cannot afford to give it. This is emphasized by the way Blake writes the sentence, using the word “chartered”. This means that to use it you have to pay, and hence the poor are thrown on to a downward spiral of debt, to add to their problems
Another difference between the two poems is the way that...