Both “The Prelude” by William Wordsworth and “London” By William Blake” convey strong ideas and feelings about a place. Blake’s poem is most subjective about the city, contrary to the title. The reader would think that the title “London” is objective and unbiased; however Blake’s condemnation of the city is apparent from the start of the poem. On a simple level, the poem is a description of the misery Blake sees as he “wanders” around London. On a deeper level however, he is criticizing not only the condition of the city itself, but the monarchy and government who oppress it.
He continues this idea by using “wander” later in the line. The transferred epithet of “mean” conveys the hostile environment and makes us question the kind of people who live on the estate, suggesting they are perhaps cold, hateful and aggressive. The use of word choice immediately introduces the theme of purposelessness to the reader and creates a vivid portrayal of the scene. Despite the classical sonnet rhyming of the poem, it has been given an unconventional structure using enjambment throughout the octave, which modernises the poem overall and creates a stream of consciousness, engaging with the reader and ensuring the persona’s words appear genuine: “Play fortresses of brick and bric-a-brac spill out some ash” The plosive alliteration of “brick and bric-a-brac” creates a harsh and unwelcoming sound, signifying the worthlessness of everything on the estate and expressing society’s disgusted attitude towards the neglected area. “Ash” could connote the remains of the dead or of a crumbling building, insinuating decay and sorrow.
Meetings involving town councils analyzed the poor as those “unwilling to work” as well as being “harmful to the public good” and not to mention their actions to “expel the poor from the city” (Doc.5). France’s Cardinal Richelieu added to that by stating that they have turned to begging and stealing from the sick (Doc. 8). Due to their crimes, this lead society to alienate them. Netherland’s Emperor Charles V stated, “If begging for alms is permitted to everyone indiscriminately, many errors and abuse will result for they will fall into idleness, which is the beginning of all evil” (Doc.4).
They had to attend poorly equipped schools. It is from this persecution that Mr. Dunbar writes his poem “We Wear the Mask.” It was dangerous for Mr. Dunbar and other blacks to show their dissatisfaction and pain from their abuses. Hence they wore a mask of joy. “This debt we pay to human guile; / with torn and bleeding hearts we smile, / and mouth with myriad subtleties” (3-5). The debt is putting on the mask of happiness in front of their repressors.
The rhyming end words such as “snow,” “woe,” “misery,” etc. all have connotations of gloom, and perhaps even death. Though such a theme would seem to be identical to that of the first poem, Blake’s use of religious imagery in the second poem assists in his condemnation of those who allowed the
The conditions were so bad many people ended up unable to work due to sickness or death from either the meat or exhaustion. Sinclair made it clear that the poor peasants were the hardest working and received nothing in return. His passion in writing is so deep for the lower class folks when he expresses the value of each individual in Jurgis’ group and their drive to keep
In the poem the exploitation of the working classes in shown by the dire circumstances which they are left in, as in this particular example "my father sold me while my tongue / could scarcely cry 'weep weep weep weep!'". A Marxist critic would observe that because of the harsh conditions enforced on society people are unable to live a normal life with children. In order to present the theme of innocence throughout the poem, the rhyming pattern of this poem is maintained in quatrain form allowing it to create a mood of innocence with the rhythm of a child-like song. Because the poem is being told from a child’s perspective, Blake’s diction remains rudimentary using words like weep displaying the literary element known as onomatopoeia to convey a mood of unhappiness, and at the same time, bring sympathy to the reader informing them of the harsh realities of child labour. During the latter part of the 18th century and early 19th century, owners of cotton mills collected orphans and children of poor parents throughout the country, obtaining their services merely for the cost of maintaining them.
The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure deprivation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be
The poor suffered powerlessness because they were poor, therefore they were placed at the bottom of the social ladder. They were automatically placed at the bottom of the social ladder and were referred to as “sinners” because they were uneducated and poor. They were led to believe that they were inferior and were possessed like property that could be acquired, used , and disposed of the politics of the moment required. 3. Would you describe this society as a power-over or power-with society?
In the following essay I will explore in greater detail the emotions and romantic aspects of the poems, and the opinions of the writers and audiences. I am now going to analyse the poem “London” by William Blake, which was written in 1792: Blake suggests that London is very vast; additionally he infers that it is a controlled and dictated city. Furthermore, the poem implies that London is artificial and shows no representation of the natural world in its splendour. “I wander through each chartered street/ Near where the chartered Thames does flow” By using the verb “Wander”, Blake is implying that London is bewildering. This is because to “Wander” means to travel around with no particular destination or purpose, or to deviate.