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REVISION:NIGHT and LONDON
In his poems, Night and London, William Blake conveys the themes
of his works through similar poetic devices. In Night he uses a
complete list of symbolic characters to depict a beautiful yet
spiritually profound poem. The other numerous devices that Blake uses
also help to convey the common theme in this poem which is, “There is
great satisfaction in self-discovery through a religious
realization.” In contrast to this enlightening scene, the theme for
London is grim and ruddy. Through more symbolism and a catalog of
other poetic devices, Blake is able to create a poem that tells a
story that can almost be seen on the page as one reads. London utters
that the common person suffers greatly at the bliss of the wealthy.
In both poems William Blake uses poetic devices, sometimes similar and
sometimes different, to convey their themes.
In Night, Blake depicts a theme of self-discovery through spiritual
realization. His poetry tells a story; specifically, it tells the
journey of the wandering narrator, searching for a more profound
truth. The narrator of Night “seek[s]” for something he refers to as
his (“mine”). The scenery is set by words of imagery and rhyme.
Blake begins by saying,
“The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent nest…”
Those three lines clearly represent the ending of day and beginning of
night. One can almost see a clear sunset with the glow of a starry
night in the sky. The narrator, despite the beautiful scenery is
wandering, searching for what is his. Then, through the use of
symbolism the poem unravels. Blake uses “lambs” and “angels” midway
through the poem to include a sense of religion and God whom he refers
to as “Him.”
Similarly in London, William Blake uses symbolism as well as
metaphors, figures of speech, and rhyme to paint a clear picture of
the story and tell the theme.
The use of descriptive adjectives such as “woe”, “chartered,” and
“weakness,” as well as their repetitiveness, sets the tone for a grim
account in the first stanza. The picture that is set forth by the
first four lines is of a man walking through London observing the
people who seem to be in despair or as he puts it “woe.” The use of a
commonly known place is a different in this poem from the previous
poem, but it is helpful because the Thames River adds to the obscurity
of the poem. Blake also repeats “cry” throughout the poem and the
subjects that are said to be “cry[ing]” are common people like “every
man” “infants,” and “chimney-sweepers.” However the most important
line of the poem, the line that explains the grimness of the poem and
the suffering of the people is “Runs in blood down the palace-walls.”
This figure of speech is basically saying that all of the heartache
the narrator notices in the city of London is the product of the
affairs of Royalty which explicates the theme of this poem.
For the most part the two poems are composed of very similar poetic
devices. The only major differences would be that in London, Blake
refers to a commonly known place to help tell the poem, and that the
diction is upscale. Words such as “hapless,” “harlot” and “blight”
are used whereas in Night more common words are used.
Both of William Blake’s poems are transformed into allegories when he
uses characters to tell a story that has a more profound meaning than
its literal one. The poetic devices such as metaphors, figures of
speech symbolism, and imagery were carefully chosen to develop two
wonderful poems that convey important themes of life.