London and its Chimney Sweeps

William Blake wrote a lot about the downsides to living in London in his time. He wrote a poem entitled London about it, which is a phenomenal Gothic/Romantic poem. It is a Gothic poem because of its dark view and joyless feeling. It is also a Romantic poem however, because it introduced the negative idea of London to literature and uses the nature of the surroundings to describe it. Had he illustrated this poem, as he did many others, it would depict a dark dingy atmosphere very fitting for the Gothic scene.

The first stanza the Romantic in the poem already shows. He speaks of the river Thames and the mapped out streets. He speaks of the misery in the people’s faces he sees. This is already a clue into the idea that London is a very miserable place to be. He sets up for a morbid setting right from the beginning to signify the woe.

The next stanza is much deeper than the first. He speaks of the people crying in pain. He also says the infants’ cry in fear. The fear can symbolize the poverty and unseemliness of the area. The fear and crying can also be from oppression of the government. This was a time of monarchy, which meant that one person ruled all and no individual had any say. The final line of the stanza “The mind forg’d manacles I hear.” (London, line 8) is very powerful as well. This means that people are masochists. That the only reason they are oppressed is because they will not fight back. A monarchy is a very unstable subject and Blake seems to believe that it can be broken if people were to make an effort.

The third stanza reads as though a war is in effect. The poor are crying only because they must fight. Those who have less to live for are always the first to be drafted for war, which in no way seems fair. It says how the church, religion, would strongly disagree with third as well. The final two lines of this stanza are as follows, “And the hapless Soldier’s sigh runs in blood down palace walls.” (London, lines 11-12) This signifies that there is loss of many soldiers and death surrounding the town everywhere. It is so powerful because of the way he depicts literally blood dripping over the ruler’s palace. This would be because it is the ruler’s fault that blood is even being shed.

The final stanza wraps things up in a deathly manner as well. He describes beautiful women being cursed and blasts of babies crying. The blast would symbolize gunshot, and the baby’s tear could even be his last. It shows that innocents die during wars in which people protest. “And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.” (London, line 16)This is the final line of the poem. It uses the term marriage hearse because of all the marriage broken by the death. Women would lose their husbands to war and would be widowed at a very young age.

This poem is a very morbid, depressing view of London during a time of war. It is very beautifully written and the symbolism used is amazing. It draws the reader in with the words used and the flow of the writing. William Blake was a very talented writer of the Romantic and the Gothic.

Works Cited

The Norton Anthology: English Literature. New York: Norton Company, 2006. Print.

Write and Illustrate

As well as being a phenomenal writer, William Blake has just as much talent in painting. His use of dingy coloring and thick black make his pieces stand out in a very unique way. His art fits his style of writing very well because of its dark twist and beautiful negativity. It takes a very talented artist to be able to express evil in such a gorgeous way, as he is so able to do. His use of dusty gold and tans make the images rough enough to show an inner conflict with the portrait. He has a beautiful imagination.

I AM

“Perception involves selecting, organizing, and interpreting information in order to give personal meaning to the communication we receive.” (Communication, pg 30). This line has very strong meaning to the project that we have been assigned. I have found that my perception of myself differs from that of others. After organizing the words in order to best describe me, I created a mini interview for each of my volunteers. The questions asked were:

a. Why did you choose number one?

b. Is there any other word not on the list that describes me better?

c. Do you think your list compares to the one I made myself?

d. How long have we known each other?

e. On a scale of one to ten, how well do you think you know me?

f. Do you have any additional comments?

g. Was it difficult to rate me?

These questions gave me more insight to myself than the project itself did. The answers, especially to letter c, were much different than I had hypothesized.

“When we think of perception we mostly associate the term with what we see, but we also form perception based on the sound of individuals’ speech patterns, which includes voice, grammar, and word choices.” (Communication, pg 33). My speech patterns are extremely applicable to the way people perceive me. Six out of the six people I interviewed put intelligent in their top eight. Though I do believe I am intelligent, I believe people see it because of my verbal communications. I speak with proper grammar as often as possible. I also have a habit of correcting others’ grammar, which can drive them insane.

Another characteristic that appeared six out of six in the top eight was attractive. I did not expect that because I had it ranked last on my own list. I do not think of myself as very attractive and do not expect others to either. When I asked if people believed that their list compared to mine, two candidates gave me a little insight. One of which, whom I have known for fourteen years said, “You don’t think highly enough of yourself.” (Shannon Roach, Interview) My mother, whom I have known since birth, said, “You don’t think as highly of yourself as others think of you.” (Deborah Bogie, Interview) Both of these quotes shocked me. I have learned that I must work on my self-esteem in order to come off as more confident to others.

“We are creatures of habit, and when others behave in routine or predictable way, we are more likely to gloss over or ignore details, which can lead to misunderstandings or inaccurate communication.” (Communication, pg 32). I feel that this applies to my generosity. Four out of six people put generous in their top eight, I perceive my own generosity in a negative way. I feel I can be too generous and let people take advantage of me. My friend Shannon thought otherwise, when asked why she chose generous as her number one word she said, “She is very kind will give anything to a friend like money, time and compassion. She’s just very kind.” (Shannon Roach, Interview). Knowing that someone I have known for fourteen years and rated an eight on a scale of ten on how well they know me, I have changed my view on my own generosity. I no longer believe that I get taken advantage of as much as I did prior to the interview. I am now happier to help others and feel better about it than I did before.

This assignment opened my eyes to a lot of things I never realized about myself. I am going to work on my self-esteem more and try to be more confident instead of pretending to be. I also think I will feel better about helping people from now on, and not jump to the conclusion that my generosity is being taken advantage of. I believe that all my volunteers were honest and take their opinions very close to heart. I believe this project has given me great insight about myself.

Works Cited:

Seiler, William J., and Melissa L. Beall. Communication: Making Connections. Boston: Pearson Education, 2008. Print.