Edgelow 1 Logan Edgelow English 205 Connor Byrne February 15th, 2013 Rarely is Reality a Thing of Beauty Introduction

London, arguably one of the most complex and curious cities in the world on a multitude of levels, has inspired artists throughout generations to produce some of their finest work. From Banksy to Blake, the home of the queen has most definitely been the muse for a variety of skilled artists from many fields and backgrounds. Two poetic works in particular worthy of taking note of that express two entirely different takes on the city itself are William Blakes London and William Wordsworths Composed Upon Westminster Bridge. When read and looked at together as a pair, it becomes apparent upon first glance that these two works would almost be describing entirely different places. Blakes poem takes the viewpoint from the narrator wandering through the charterd streets of London, and finding sadness in the face of every person he sees, claiming that he can hear the restraints of the mind with every sight. Wordsworth, however, displays a substantially more positive outlook upon the city, where he takes the point of view of the narrator looking upon a sleeping London being welcomed to a new day by a sunrise. Wordsworth describes the breathtaking scenery hes able to witness, even going so far as to say that any soul that passes by without looking would be dull. While Blake describes the woe felt within the eyes of the lower-middle class of

Edgelow 2 Londons city streets, Wordsworth almost represents a point of view unaffected by the poverty and hardship all around him the point of view of the wealthy that can afford to be optimistic. Statement of Problem and Thesis The image of the city of London in the two poems Composed Upon Westminster Bridge and London really are on the two polar ends of the spectrum of interpretation. While Wordsworth sees natural beauty, Blake sees societal repression. Blake represents the grim and rough experience that is wholly true for an unfortunate few, while Wordsworth takes more of a personal outlook and looks towards the beauty the city itself holds. While both poets make arguments for their case with what appears to be genuine zeal, they cannot comfortably coexist within the readers psyche, and thus a stance must be taken. In my paper I will argue that Blakes London is a more honest and realistic outlook on the image of the city of London, and is deemed effective through his use of vivid imagery and elaborate metaphor, as well as the overall rhythm and rhyme scheme presented in the poem itself. In making this argument for the honesty of Blakes London, I will therefore also be arguing against the sincerity and relevance of Wordsworths Composed Upon Westminster Bridge made noticeable through his individual romanticized outlook upon the city and unnecessarily detailed imagery. Analysis In London, Blake is able to display a more earnest and honest image of the city through his extremely descriptive word choice and intricate use of metaphor that wholly depicts the truly harsh conditions the lower-middle class were forced to

Edgelow 3 endure. Blake begins his poem by illustrating a scene of a man wandering the city streets making note of the hardship that is written upon the faces of all those he passes by. Through his use of word choice and repetition of the word charterd in the first stanza, Blake is able to hint at his perception that everything around him is controlled and restricted, and at the same time brings up a question that asks what exactly it is that is restricting the streets. This point is especially driven home when Blake implies that even the river is charterd (2), implying that not only are the streets being restricted, but also even natural beauty is susceptible to this level of control. In hinting at this idea that the streets are constrained in some way by a higher power, Blake is already able to come across with a more gripping and sincere image of the city in comparison to Wordsworth simply by coming out with a bold and positioned viewpoint within the first few lines. At the end of the second stanza, Blake again opens up his poem to a question that pertains to asking what source it is that is restricting our lives in such a severe way when he claims to be able to hear the mind-forged manacles (8) that accompany the cries of all those he comes into contact with. The questions that arise from this comment are ones of great complexity, as it asks not only what is the source of these restraints of the mind, but also what exactly their effects are. These cries are given true poignancy with Blakes use of the acrostic highlighting the word HEAR in the third stanza. Some of the questions brought up at the earlier stages of the poem can be answered when the last stanza is analyzed, with the last line being of particular importance. The intricacy of the metaphor Blake brings about when he talks of the plagues being cast upon the marriage hearse not only shows his paradoxical view of

Edgelow 4 the tradition of marriage but also how our society itself creates restraint for the individuals. Here it could be said that marriage represents the individuals conformity to societal norms and acceptable actions while the hearse represents death and sadness, implying that the two work hand in hand in a conflicting way that eventual leads to woe and worry. The way Blake is able to look past the purely superficial views of the city and is able to delve into the deeper impact the city and the society it holds within has on the people clearly and accurately shows exactly how he is able to more honestly tell the story of the city of London when compared to the work of Wordsworth. On the other hand there is the version of London seen from the softer, more romantic point of view of Wordsworth in Composed Upon Westminster Bridge. Wordsworth is able to paint a striking picture of the city illuminated by the sunrise at daybreak also through his use of word choice and elaborate imagery. While describing his sight so touching in its majesty (3), Wordsworth talks of the silent beauty the morning brings, and describes the bright and glittering (8) ships, towers, domes, and other landscape elements of the city. This usage of word choice and imagery, while pleasing to the senses, really doesnt capture the feeling and heart of the city in any way other than that of its natural appeal on a superficial level. The only real depth Wordsworth brings through his poem comes when he talks of a deep calm that seems to have washed over him in the natural beauty of his cityscape and when he brings up a point that the river glideth at his own sweet will (12). The use of personification with the river is one of the few lines that can

Edgelow 5 actually be analyzed for deeper meaning, and even then it appears to simply mean that the river flows freely without worry or woe. The two poems analyzed here while supposedly speaking of the same city, really couldnt get much different. This contrast through similarity is most effectively expressed when you look at how the two poems have taken to use the image of the river in such different ways. Wordsworth takes it as a free flowing entity that glideth at his own free will (12), while Blake claims that its charterd (2), implying that it, like the rest of society, is also regulated and under the control of a higher power. These different takes on a common theme serve to illuminate how Blake is further able to establish his poem as displaying a more realistic view of the city in comparison with Wordsworth. Consideration of Secondary Sources Roy Neil Graves analysis of Blakes London in his article Blakes London focuses mainly on Blakes use of repetition of the image of crying and suffering civilians to further drive his point home and has his words resonate within the reader. Graves brings an example forward from stanza two, where he says Blake reiterates cry and uses words with auditory insinuations such as voice and ban the last having several meanings that all imply a hearing (Graves 131). Graves also makes note that the addition of the mind-forged manacles (8) that are heard effectively suggests metallic clanks and even anvil clangs from the poets cerebral forge (Graves 131). Making note of the poet himself, Graves comments on Blake by saying that while his ostensible sobriety might seem to rule out playfulness, his pervasive obscurantism makes it easy to imagine that arcane latencies might color

Edgelow 6 and cloud any one of his texts (Graves 131). The points presented by Graves in this article run fairly parallel to my own ideas in that we both see his use of repetition and emphasis on the sense of hearing to be a positive contribution to the image Blake tries to depict the city as. In the second source, Heather Glen speaks of both the similarities and differences between Wordsworth and Blake. Glen claims that the most significant difference lies in the fact that Blake sees the city as a concentrated image of the society as a whole, while for Wordsworth it is a unique and specifically disturbing place (Glen 2). This argument in particular runs quite well with the argument Ive been developing, as I would agree that Blake looks at the city as a concentrated version of society as a whole in London while Wordsworth looks the city from more of an outsider-looking-in point of view that simply takes on the nature of the city from a surface level. Conclusion While Wordsworth sees the city from a distance, he notes its natural beauty from the pleasant time of sunrise. From here, he is able to romanticize London without problems or issues, and from that he feels a sweeping calm wash over him. Blake, on the other hand, isnt afraid to get his hands dirty. He depicts the city for what it really is through his gritty interactions with the people on the city streets. In doing so, hes able to make a more realistic and honest image for the readers to appreciate. Although its an unfortunate conclusion to come to, the reality of a situation rarely is a place of beauty, and yet within that fact itself we find the best kind of splendor real and imperfect.

Edgelow 7 Works Cited Glen, Heather. THE POET IN SOCIETY: BLAKE AND WORDSWORTH ON LONDON. Literature and History. 3 ed. London: 1976. 1-28. Print. Graves, Roy Neil. Blakes London. The Explicator. 63.3 (2005): 131-36. Print. Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Goia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 7th Compact Ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013.