With the invention of the steam engine by James Watt, a new area began in Britain. First factories opened, and the people from the country moved to the cities to find work there. More great inventions were made. Now more and more products could be produced within shorter time. Originally, all these machines were created to facilitate the work for the people, to make their lifes easier. But the living standards did not get better for all people. One can read in many history books about dates of the industrial revolution, and about the names of the inventors. When we want to get to know something about the social life in London at about 1800, we need to look for books which document the living conditions of the people. These documents give an authetic image of the life of the ordinary people in the city. When reading the two poems London by William Blake and Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth it becomes clear that the impressions the poets got of the city are very different. What did London really look like at the beginning of the nineteenth century? Why did these poets see it so differently? This can be shown by analysing the two poems, and comparing them to eachother with reference to the documented real living conditions at that time.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Two very different Impressions of London
2.1 “London“ by William Blake
2.2 “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth
3. Comparison of the two poems with reference to the documented living conditions
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines how the socio-economic transformations during the Industrial Revolution influenced the disparate literary portrayals of London in the works of William Blake and William Wordsworth. By contrasting Blake’s critical, reality-based perspective with Wordsworth’s idealized, romanticized vision, the research explores how poetic subjectivity reflects the stark realities of urban life in the early nineteenth century.
- Literary analysis of "London" by William Blake.
- Analysis of "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" by William Wordsworth.
- The impact of the Industrial Revolution on urban living standards.
- Contrasting the Romantic views of nature and the city.
- The role of stylistic devices in shaping emotional responses to social settings.
Excerpt from the Book
“London“ by William Blake
The poem “London” by William Blake was published in Songs of Experience in 1794. It consists of four stanzas with four lines each, and has an alternate rhyme. The speaker of this poem, who is the subject of most of the sentences, goes for a walk through the streets and describes what he or she sees and hears.
In the poem iambic and trochaic tetrameter are mixed. It includes a lot of stylistic devices. The first one is a repetition of the adjective “charter’d” used to describe the streets and the Thames. This is an indication of the private ownership of parts of the city, which formerly belonged to all people. In the next lines, ”And mark in every face I meet / Marks of weakness, marks of woe”(3,4) the word “mark” is used in different word classes to emphasize that the lyrical subject sees these “marks”, and refers from them to the people’s health and feelings. Moreover, “face” is used as a synecdoche for people. These lines show that the inhabitants of London are in a bad emotional and physical condition.
The first three lines of the second stanza begin with the anaphora “in every”(5,6,7). It generalizes the suffering of all people. Such generalizations often happen in this poem, because the words “every” and “each” are repeated several times. It gives the impression that everyone, without exception, is suffering from a horrible life. This is exaggerated, because actually there were some rich people too, but the lyrical subject only describes what supports his point of view. The metaphor “mind-forg’d manacles”(8) in the last line of the second stanza expresses, that all the oppression and pain of the people are actually created by themselves and their society.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the context of the Industrial Revolution and outlines the goal of comparing two differing poetic perspectives on early 19th-century London.
2. Two very different Impressions of London: This section provides a detailed analysis of the stylistic and thematic elements of William Blake’s "London" and William Wordsworth’s "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802".
3. Comparison of the two poems with reference to the documented living conditions: This chapter synthesizes the findings by contrasting the poems against historical data regarding urban growth, pollution, and the social hardships of the era.
4. Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the main findings, emphasizing that both poets accurately captured different aspects of the city based on their unique, subjective viewpoints.
Keywords
Industrial Revolution, William Blake, William Wordsworth, London, Poetry, Romanticism, Social Criticism, Living Conditions, Urbanization, Stylistic Devices, Metaphor, Personification, Imagery, Socio-economic history.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores the contrasting literary impressions of London during the Industrial Revolution as depicted by poets William Blake and William Wordsworth.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The paper covers the social criticism of urban industrial life, the Romantic interpretation of nature versus the city, and the historical reality of London's living conditions around 1800.
What is the central research question?
The research asks why the two poets perceived London so differently and how these perceptions correlate with the documented real-life conditions of that time.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The methodology consists of a comparative literary analysis of both poems, supported by historical context regarding the Industrial Revolution.
What is addressed in the main body of the text?
The main body contains a stanza-by-stanza analysis of the two poems, identifying specific stylistic devices and linking them to historical realities such as pollution, child labor, and social inequality.
Which keywords define this work?
The work is defined by terms such as Romanticism, Industrial Revolution, social criticism, and comparative literature.
How does Blake use the term "charter'd" in his poem?
Blake uses "charter'd" to indicate the privatization of public spaces, highlighting how even the streets and the Thames were restricted by ownership, symbolizing systemic control.
Why does Wordsworth describe London as peaceful despite its industrial setting?
Wordsworth chooses to observe the city from a distance during the early morning, allowing him to focus on the aesthetic beauty of the architecture rather than the social and industrial turmoil occurring during the day.
- Quote paper
- Katharina Ochsenfahrt (Author), 2008, London during the Industrial Revolution, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/123130
