William Wordworth, "London, 1802"

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William Wordsworth’s “London, 1802” is about the loss of glory in the titular setting as compared to the noble kingdom it was before. The poem indicates that if Milton were living in 1802, he could serve as a guiding light, bringing Londoners back to their former state; the speaker eventually shifts from speaking of Milton to speaking to him directly. Wordsworth is able to communicate this to readers using vivid imagery, diction, tone, and choice of details. In the octave, Wordsworth uses images and figurative language to paint a portrait of London in 1802—a “fen” – with religion, state, and literature stuck, going nowhere, “stagnant.” The tone of this image is dreary, and almost unsettling. London, instead of being the prosperous, innovative, forward-moving city it was before, is now falling behind. Because of the Londoners “[forfeiting] their English dower” of happiness, they have forced England into a cultural and societal halt. Where once noble Anglo-Saxon men dwelt, there are now selfish, materialistic, greedy men. They have given up their “manners, virtue, freedom, power,” for it’s easier to go about life in a narcissistic way. The Londoners have lost their traditional automatic good nature and replaced it with a lifestyle motivated solely by getting the most for oneself with the least amount of work. They are “selfish men” and need to be “[raised] up” by someone that proved to be an exemplary English citizen. Wordsworth calls on Milton to come back and return to London’s men their righteousness and strength. In the sestet, Wordsworth shifts tone and utilizes figurative language, details, and imagery in order to offer up Milton as an example of the ideal London man. He shifts from presenting his concern to instead showing how the city’s faults can be corrected by emulating Milton’s behavior. He juxtaposes the way Londoners are now to the way

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