Essay on Comparing William Blake and William Wordsworth

Comparing Blake and Wordsworth William Blake and William Wordsworth were two of the most influential of all of the romantic writers, although neither was fully appreciated until years after his death. They grew up with very different lifestyles which greatly affected the way they as individuals viewed the world and wrote about it. Both play an important role in Literature today. Despite their differences, with their literature backgrounds they cannot help but have a few similarities. William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowthers attorney. He lost his mother when he was only eight years old and then five years later his father.†¦show more content†¦William Blake and William Wordsworth both wrote about the city of London, though they presented their views from totally different angles. William Blake wrote about the dreary ugliness of London life by taking a stroll down Lond ons streets, while, William Wordsworth writes more about the beauty in London. This could be due to the fact that Blake lived in London most of his life (with the exception of the three years he lived in Sussex, in the south of England, where he worked for his friend, the landowner and poet William Hayley) and that Wordsworth did not. Both Blake and Wordsworth like to emphasize children in their poetry Blakes Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience for example especially appear to treat childhood as a symbol of the human condition according to his perspective. Wordsworth writes in a much different way about his physical surroundings and childhood, but nevertheless, still describes nature and youth as representing something more than simple trees, rivers or scarcity of years. In his poem Michael we read: Careless of books, yet having felt the power Of nature, by the gentle agency Of natural objects, led me on to feel For passions that were not my own, and think (At random and imperfectly indeed) On man, the heart of man, and human life Wordsworth is suggesting in these lines that nature associates or leads to certain thoughts or understandings about human life. They both had hard lives at one point or another,Show MoreRelated Comparing London by William Blake and Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth811 Words   |  4 PagesComparing London by William Blake and Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth William Blake was born in London in 1757. He was taught by his mother at home, and became an apprentice to an engraver at fourteen. In addition to poetry Blake spent much of his time painting. Blake lived on the edge of poverty and died in neglect. His poetry receiving little acclaim while he was alive. ‘London’ was written by Blake in 1789. Taken from Blake’s ‘Songs of Experience’, theRead MoreComparing The Metaphors Of London By William Blake And William Wordsworth978 Words   |  4 Pagesastounding, at least thats what William Blake thought. William Blake and William Wordsworth, poets of the romantic period, wrote poems about London. These two poets expressed how they felt about London about how it was at the time. Blake and Wordsworth create an image in a readers mind of how they saw London, Blake’s image being dim and Wordsworths image is brighter. Blake viewed London as an awful place, and Wordsworth viewed London as a cheerful place. Blake and Wordsworth used metaphors, a settingRead More Comparing Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth and London by William Blake1459 Words   |  6 PagesComparison between William Blake and William Wordsworth’s Views of London William Blake grew up in the slums of London and this is shown in his poem, he wrote his poem in the slums and back alleys of London as he never had very much money. He describes London as being â€Å"charter’d†, this gives us the impression that everything has rules and boundaries in London, and that there is no mystery to be discovered. Also chartered means on a map, almost as if it is owned, by the king perhaps. The lineRead MoreWilliam Blake And William Wordsworth1099 Words   |  5 Pagesthose poets are William Blake and William Wordsworth. Although Blake was a contemporary of the era, he had a little in common with Wordsworth. Religion is the focus of Blake’s visionary works, which does not exist in any other Romantic poetry. William Blake uses satire in most of his work to criticize the corrupting influence of religion on imagination. For Wordsworth, nature was like a religion. He talks about his own spiritual life when he refers to nature. According to W ordsworth, being alive meantRead MoreComparing the Poets Use of Language To Present Their View of London in Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by Wordsworth and London by Blake1571 Words   |  7 PagesComparing the Poets Use of Language To Present Their View of London in Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by Wordsworth and London by Blake London was, is and undoubtedly always will be, a city of enormous interest and controversy, especially for those employed in the field of writing. The two poems, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, 1802, by William Wordsworth and London, 1794, by William Blake, demonstrate this through their opposing views. The intention of both WilliamRead MoreEssay on Compare London and Composed upon Westminster Bridge2519 Words   |  11 PagesCompare London by William Blake and Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd 1802 by William Wordsworth. As a part of my coursework for GCSE English, I will be comparing two poems written about London in nineteenth century. The two poems I have chosen to write about are: London by William Blake and Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd 1802 by William Wordsworth. Both poems give their own, different accounts of London at around the same period. One is written with aRead MoreThe Romantic Period : The Dark Alleyways Of The Modern Bourgeoisie1297 Words   |  6 Pageslike a nightmare for poet laureates such as William Wordsworth and William Blake, as well as other Romantic poets like John Keats, who stress the importance of nature and its landscapes over the rapid expansion of an industrialized society. More specifically, writers of this period believe that spiritual and emotional healing is a result of nature, which â€Å"for the Romantics becomes a means for divine revelation† (Wordsworth). That is to say, Wordsworth and Romantics alike argue that nature is peaceRead MoreWilliam Blake Had A Strict Standard On How His Poems Should1431 Words   |  6 Pages William Blake had a strict standard on how his poems should appear. In his poems, he was not very concerned with grammar or spelling, even though he was writing in a time much after the official English language had been created. Much of his spellings are very old-fashioned to us and at times can sound very awkward. Even his readers in his time found that the wording and spelling of phrases and words was quaint. William Blake also used forms of punctuation that were not considered to be standardRead More The Romantic Period Essay1055 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"out†. In romanticism poetry came new concepts, like the use of imagination, nature, and symbolism. These new concepts soon became very popular with most of the poets. With these new concepts came new poets like John Keats, William Blake, and William Wordsworth, who soon became leading poets of the romanticism movement. Although using the same concepts: imagination, nature, and symbolism, Keats’s, Blake’s, and Wordsworth’s works are distinguishably different due to their distinctRead MoreRomanticism in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake1393 Words   |  6 PagesRomanticism in William Blakes Poem William Blake was a poet, painter, and a printmaker all during the period in literature known as the Romantic time period. The Romantic time period, also known in Literature as Romanticism began in Europe, mainly France and Britain around the 1800s (Barker) and it was first defined as a tool to in literature and literary criticisms (Galitz). The Romantic period did not just focus on literature, but also on the subjects of art and knowledge which was fueled