Compare and Contrast London by William Blake and Island Man by Grace Nichols Essay

Comp be and Contrast capital of the United Kingdom by William Blake and Island objet dart by embroider Nichols. Consider How Each Poem Conveys Alternative Attitudes To Life And Society. excogitationThe numbers capital of the United Kingdom compose by William Blake (1757 1827) is a clever song. Although we raft buoy appreciate it, and determine William Blakes persuasion processs, it was non understood or cherished when it was create verbally totally those years ago. In telephone line the numbers Island objet dart compose by thanksgiving Nichols is a modern metrical composition. The angiotensin-converting enzyme idea that brings these cardinal verse forms unitedly is that they atomic number 18 some(prenominal) about(predicate) the metropolis of London. Island worldly concern is in linguistic communication that we under jut out to solar day, Blakes poetry uses the English address of the 18th ascorbic acid.Brief Historical BackgroundWilliam Blake was bo rn in a district of London called Westminister on the 28th November 1757. His obvious artistic shoemakers lastowment lead his draper father to enter him into Pars Drawing crop in the strand. This lead on to him later being apprenticed to throng Basire, an engraver who formed for the Royal Society of Antiquaries. He married Catherine Boucher in the August of 1972 when he became a freelance engraver. Blake was an accomplished artist in many a(prenominal) areas, non just did he write novels and meters, he was in any case interested government activity and religion yet he could paint and engrave to a in truth high standard. Blake was introduced by Joseph Johnson to other radical thinkers of the day including Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Joseph Priestley and doubting Thomas Paine. In his books such as The French rotation 1791, and America A Prophecy 1793.He developed his attitude of revolt once once against authority, combining governmental belief and visionary ecst asy. The political situation of the time was such that near of his work was printed anomalously because he feared government persecution. In 1800 Blake moved to Felpham where he began work on his epic song, Milton and Jerusalem. In these songs Blake reveals his hearty review article feature with prophecy and biblical legend. In 1803 Blake was charged with high lese majesty on the testimony of a drunken soldier named John Scofield fortuitously he was acquitted and moved foul to London. Blake died in obscurity in 1827 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields.The poem London is obviously drawn from Blakes avow experiences of the London in which he lived. He saw London for the hell hole that it was finished the eyeball of a man that seemed to intent all the poverty and degradation of familiar emotional state that ordinary wad understood. His religious beliefs embraced Unitarianism a precise simplistic form of Christian worship which was in direct confrontat ion to the church of England and all its values. This sensitive artistic man saw all the fearsome abuses in corporation, and this poem was his appearance of making people confront the problems. charge though he did non befool a solution to the problems, he sine qua noned people to face up to the problems and try to work in concert to put on their society a better place.Main Criticism of LondonTitleBlake chose the simple title London to engage his readers interest about their capital city. London was the heart of the country, the city of government. It was a symbol of power and majesty. As the reader would get a line the poem but they would genuinelyise how ambiguous the title really was. Blake was preparing the reader for a mighty poem, but the power of the poem was in showing the reader how stingy their beloved city really was.Type of PoemThis poem is pattern the whole of Londons population just how hideous the real face of the city was. Blake was behaving give care a prophet advising that people should basically change their way of life. Runs in blood down castle walls is a caution to people in authority that if they continued on their pipeline of closing their eyes to the poor and the conditions in which they lived, what had happened in France namely the Revolution and the slaughter of the Monarchy making France a republic would happen in Britain. The estimation of constraint and social control runs through the whole of the poem. People could not choose how they lived their lives.Subject of Poem & Its TreatmentThe subject of Blakes work includes the exploitation of people and their eventual corruption in all apt trigger off of society. How the youthful Harlots evil. Blake explains here that these new-fangled people had no choice but to resort to prostitution. Society pervert them and they then in turn became sinful and corrupted.VoiceThe poem is written through the eyes of one person, but this person wants you to experience all the subjugation and social injustice that is all virtually. This person has substantial beliefs and is disposed(p) to stand up and speak out for those who are less favorable than himself. I wander thro begins the poem and so lucks the reader on their own ain journey through the disgraceful city of London.Mood & feelA desperate and hopeless idea runs through the whole of this poem, it is electronegative and offers no solution to the terrible torment that the people suffer. And mark in any face I meet Marks of weakness label of distress. Blake makes no secret of the fact that he sees misery, illness and oppression in e real individual that he meets.Form & StructureThe expression of this poem consists of four stanzas from each one of which contains four lines, this is know as a quatrain. Blake chose this locating to resile the idea of control and authority with great outcome. The monotonous structure of this poem reflects the way in which life is played out. This poem is ve ry much like a ballad in that it tells a fiction of a walk through London and the terrible sights to be seen. Blake shows his magnificence in the tercet stanza when every first letter of the line spells the cry hear, this being the last discussion of the befriend stanza. This technique is known as an acrostic, and is usually use in romantic poems, however in this case the poet uses this skill to underline the message of the poem, being that society mustiness listen to his warning of approaching doom. verse lineThe rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAB. It is regular and gives a superstar of control. The narrator is obviously sure of his ideas and all in all confident in the knowledge that he holds the moral high ground. metreThe rhythm of this poem reflects the rhyming scheme in that it is very controlled in order to make the poets point of view sort of a clear. on that point is a continued steady beat, which seems to reiterate the poets ideas. imageryImagery features end- to-end this poem from beginning to end. Feelings and ideas are evoked by Blakes particular choice of language. all(prenominal) blackning Church appals. How can the reader not fail to appreciate the distressing nature of this poem when this line is read. A Church should be a place of God, holy and pure. This Church was black, which suggested unholyness, and ungodliness. The black underlines the feelings of despondency and helplessness A Church should be welcoming, it should not take people.The blackness of the Church contrasts deeply with the red of the blood that runs down Palace walls. The blood is an image of the violence that is all around. A very strong image is The mind-forgd manacles I hear. Obviously the peoples thoughts were being controlled they had no freedom of thought. The image of the physical manacle is virile when it is used in the context of peoples minds and thoughts being constrained. And blights with pesterers the married couple hearse. We see in this image the death of wedlock and the death of family values, marriage is under threat. Married men were known to visit prostitutes.In this closing line many ideas are represented, one would not expect the word hearse which represents death and the ceremony of a funeral in the same line as the word Marriage which represents life and the ceremony of a wedding. The word plague in this line conjures up the idea that it is inevitable that society volition fall apart, it is inescapable, and the very fabric of society was rotten. Marks of weakness, label of woe. In this line thoughts of oppression bet on individuals faces. It is noticeable that social injustice has made them weary and downtrodden. The word mark is used to pose two different sozzledings, firstly how he notices these people, and secondly the physical label of oppression on the peoples faces.LanguageThe poet chooses the words he uses very cautiously to invoke very specific ideas. Plague is a word associated with despicable and helplessness. Woe is used to convey feelings of distress and oppression. Runs in blood makes us think of violence and the brutality of life. Harlots curse shows us the negative side of the sordid life in which they lived. These words appear throughout the poem, powerfully showing the ideas Blake feels is his duty to share with society.TechniquesIn every and cry are repeated. This is to get the point across very forcefully. The effect of the terrible conditions in which people lived stretched across the whole of society. Cry in this context shows their fear, they are not screaming, they are experiencing internal agony. The full spectrum of people were marked. Blake is quite revolutionary in the line In every Cry of every cosmos. He uses the word Man to mean every ordinary man, they were important. Alliteration is used to great effect in the articulate Soldiers sigh. The words are bound together escalate the feeling of the desperation that these royal servants felt. In the line Marks of weakness, marks of woe the alliteration strengthens the repetition technique. How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new-born Infants tear.This is an font of enjambment, the rhythm and thought are continued from one line to the other and is reflective of the flow of the Thames that runs through London. Runs in blood is a very powerful metaphor, the idea of oppression is cleverly communicated through this technique. Mind-forgd manacles is used to illustrate just how loaded people felt not only in body but also in spirit. The poem starts with the personal pronoun I. The poet wants us to understand that he has strong personal beliefs contained within this poem. He is prepared to stand by these beliefs and try to make the reader understand his views on society and social justice. Blake puts the words Man, Chimney-sweep, Church, Soldier and Palace in capital letters. Here he is emphasising the importance of every section of society, and how each word symbolises every sectio n of that particular status.SensesThe poet appeals to our sense of sight and drop dead in his poem. In stanza one the sense appealed to is visual talking about the river Thames and the streets of London full of business activity. Blake concentrates on the physical surroundings. One stanza is in direct contrast to the other. The word cry is repeated several times, this together with Soldiers sigh gives the reader an understanding of the pitiful articulates that ring the poet as he journeyed through London. The poet wants us to listen to everything he says, he emphasises this in the third stanza with the first letter of every line spells the word hear. Our sense of sight cannot help but be engaged by Every blackning Church. Black is a colour associated with evil and bad occurrences.TensesThe poem was written in the present distort. All the sights and sounds he experiences are happening now and need to be addressed immediately. Society needs to examine itself and change. Punctuatio n is used by the poet to control the rhythm and the pace. The commas are used to list the many problems that are witnessed In every voice, in every ban. The poet also uses other techniques of punctuation such as a colon in the line Every blackning Church appals. This is to differentiate mingled with two different subjects being the Church and the Monarchy, it is to make clear who he is accusing of being hypercritical and who he is accusing of being violent.The set up on the ReaderThe effects on the reader are quite profound, we are left reflecting and investigateing what is really going on in society. Blake hoped his poem would make a difference and reach people who could make society a happier and fairer place to live. He offers no solution towards the end of the poem, but hopes that others would think about the problems that he sees and make some endeavour towards change for the better.Brief Historical BackgroundGrace Nichols was born in Gorge Town, Guyana in 1950. She grew up in a small coastal village and moved to the city when she was 8 years old. As a child she lived through the countries struggle for independence. She has worked as a teacher and a journalist and has a strong interest in Guyanese category tales. Grace arrived in Britain at the age of 17, bringing with her the warmth of her Caribbean sensibility. Her poems honour sensuality and generosity, and attack petty mean-spiritedness. She has won many awards and prizes and is especially noteworthy for her contribution to childrens literature.The poet spent her informative years in the Caribbean and so sees London in a different perspective from someone who has lived at that place all their lives. Grace Nichols also has a completely different pagan poleground to someone who has been brought up in London.Main Criticism of Island ManTitleThe title represents solitude and isolation, an island represents a place of escape and provokes feelings of a natural environment. Man is universal it is anonymous and could mean any single man. We see here the similarities with Blakes poem London in that his poem is from the perspective of an anonymous man.Type of PoemThe poem is about a man who has a dream about a beautiful island, he would love this island to be his naturalism, however his reality is Another London day. The theme of pleasant solitude and peaceful isolation runs through this poem. at that place is a free lifestyle and a sense of liberty that combined with naturalness makes this poem easily readable. The poems are both concerned with the reality of London life. They maybe set at different times, but they both set in the same city and both are displease with London life.Subject of Poem & Its TreatmentThe subject of Grace Nichols poem is the wonderful quality of life on an island compared to the dull lifestyle of contemporary London. More than half the poem is taken up with the description of the island, we wonder therefore if the poet would rather be on the island than in London. The poet has experienced two different ways of life and seems to prefer the island life. In Blakes poem however, Blake doesnt seem to have experienced another way of life, his poem just concentrates on the appalling conditions f London.VoiceThis poem is written through the eyes of one person. This person wants you to understand just what its like to live on a beautiful island and then come back to the dull reality of their life as it is now.Mood & ToneThe mood of this poem is one of longing. The poet wants to escape into her fantasy of island life. The fantasy is in spare contrast to her life now. Her sense of hope emerges when she describes the island breaking and wombing is a phrase that reflects on nature and natural happenings, it gives hope. Despair seems to return when she describes London. The sadness appears in the poem when the dream ends, and he wakes up to reality, island man heaves himself he is weary before the day even begins. This is in stark contras t to Blakes poem where desperation and hopelessness for everybody runs through the poem. In Grace Nichols poem, island man feels sorry for himself because he hasnt got the quality of life he wants.Form & StructureThe structure of this poem is random it is obscure and has no particular form. It is purposefully freestyle and reflects a modern poem. The unadorned irregularity and change of each line length is planned. It reflects island life which isnt planned. This is in distinct contrast to Blakes poem which is in the form of a quatrain.RhymeThe part of the poem that deals with island life has no rhyme, however when we come back to London in the third stanza we see one rhyme tide and roar. This suggests that there is some structure and control to reality of city life. These words have an assertive violent sound, they seem to symbolise the aggressive life of London. This is a contrast with Blakes poem which has a rhyme scheme of ABAB which helps him to convey a sense of controlled aggression throughout his poem. bikeThe rhythm of this poem reflects the poets thoughts. A dream follows no set pattern, and neither does this poem. This contrasts with Blakes poem which is very controlled and obviously not a dream but a living nightmare.ImageryImagery features throughout the poem. Feelings and ideas are evoked by Grace Nichols particular choice of language. forenoon this is the first line of the poem, just one word. Morning conjures up images of a hopeful start to the beginning of a new day there might be new opportunities in the new day ahead. Wombing is a word that invokes feelings of a safe environment. He is surrounded by the sound of blue pasture and is in a womb of his own making. Feelings of the chronic cycle of life are reflected by the use of this word. Wild seabirds is written again on its own line to emphasise the importance of nature, they were completely free. However nature worked in harmony with inhabitants of this island, fishermen were a fond s tore of island man. The poet highlights the fact that the temperateness rises in the easterly the sun is a symbol of life giving and newness, the light of a new day. The east symbolises an area of beauty and mystical ideas.Some religions pray facing east, this is a very imperative idea. His small emerald island. Emeralds are very precious gems, they are beautiful and unique like the island to the island man. The island is his treasure, his to own, he belongs there. The memory of his island enables him to exist in the realities of city life. His frequent dreams and thoughts always bring him back to where he believes he really belongs. When the poem comes back to reality the images are of greyness all-metal sands, these are not natural. We are reminded of the grey and dismal polluted streets of London. It was not a natural environment. The use of the word northwestern has connotations of coldness and harshness. The North Circular is a road that the inhabitants of London travel a round, it is a controlled thruway and symbolises the hectic pace of city life. A circular road around the city makes the reader think that island man is now in a life that he cant get out of.In Grace Nicholss poem there are many images of nature, quite unlike Blakes poem where even the river Thames is exploited and controlled. The seabirds were wild they were completely free, quite unlike Blakes poem where there were mind-forgd manacles. In Blakes poem there is no escape from the realities of life, of the helplessness and despair that surrounded him. In Grace Nicholss poem she has an escape, she escapes into her dreams.LanguageGrace Nichols uses the language of today. She uses modern words such as groggily and muffling. Blake would have had no idea what these words would have meant. She uses words to contrast ideas such as the east representing island life and the north representing London life. Grace Nichols is not as detailed or aggressive as Blake but they do have the same attit ude to London life. Blue surf represents island life whilst grey metallic represents London life. The whole of Blakes poem consists of negative language over half of Grace Nicholss poem, the part that deals with island life consists of positive language.TechniquesGrace Nichols uses the repetition of the word groggily to move from one part of the poem to the other, it is a turning point it separates island life from reality. Island man does not want to leave the island, it is an unpleasant experience in which the island man is confused. Repetition is again used in Muffling muffling to emphasise the fact that although his dream was clear, real life is confusing. Blake also uses a repetition technique, but he uses it to convey his ideas. An example of alliteration in Grace Nicholss poem is sun go up. This paints a picture in the readers mind of the sun rising over the water, a very powerful image of island life. Blake again uses alliteration in the same way to evoke effective images. enjambement is used to great effect, the poem is at random with irregular lines to reflect the randomness of a dream and the confusion felt strong awaking. Blakes poem also has thoughts running from one line to the other.The poem Island Man is written in the third person, it communicates a sense of detachment and could well be someone elses experience, there must be many people in London who are away from home and feel a sense of isolation even tough they are surrounded by hoards of people. In comparison Blakes poem was written in the first person making London a more personal poem. The same senses are evident in both poems, each of the poems only deal with sight and sound, but are treated in different ways. The poem Island Man sights and sounds are linked sound of blue surf gives the reader an idyllic image of a perfect island beach. In the poem London the whole of the first stanza is concerned with sight and the whole of the second stanza is concerned with sound.TensesThe poem Is land Man is written in the present tense in modern-day London. In comparison the poem London although also written in the present tense is concerned with 18th century London.PunctuationGrace Nicholss technique of using absolutely no punctuation what so ever is very effective, it communicates the idea of freedom and a dream like state. There are no rules in this poem, thought continues from one line to the other. His crumpled pillow waves island man heaves himself. This is in direct contrast to Blakes poem which is ruled by punctuation. The poem has either a comma, full stop or colon.Effect on the ReaderIsland Man in the first half of the poem is very bright and cheerful and shows a very natural and free way of life, which every reader could identify me with and would hope to aspire to. The second part of the poem deals with the reality of London life again, which many people can identify with. In contrast Blakes poem London is a very gloomy poem all the way through.