La Londra di Blake e Wordsworth

dalla tesina “Immagini della città nella storia e nella letteratura” LORENZA SANDRIN  –  A.S. 2001-2002 TESINA PER L’ESAME DI STATO  LA CITTÀ NELLA LETTERATURA INGLESE

The industrial town

The industrialization changed radically the landscape of Great Britain. In the first half of the XIX century the Midlands had already gained the name of nack country“. It was an area of gloomy buildings, small towns full of smoke, streets that created a sense of confusion and dismay and canals to which the railway was added.

The Industrial Revolution caused an uncontrolled growth of the city. Small towns called mushroom towns” were constructed to house the workers. They were called in this way because they sprang up suddenly and multiplied rapidly around factories near sources of water power.

For workers living in the city meant long working hours and appalling living conditions. Industrial cities lacked elementary public services (water supply, sanitation, street-cleaning, open spaces). The air and the water were polluted by smoke and filth, the houses, built in endless rows, were over crowded.

A text written in this period describes a village composed by endless rows of houses with two or more floors, not arranged in a continued way along the roads but interrupted by furnaces, piles of coal which burnt in the process of transformation in coke and chimneys of machinery; the countryside was cut by canals and lands were occupied by grass, cereals mixed with rejects of mines and slags of blast furnaces”.

In the city the air was heavy for humans breath, the harmful steams carried by the smoke from the factories blackened the surrounding landscape and made the trees die.

Also London had a lot of problems, in the XIX century the filthy waters were poured in the Thames, making the environmental condition worse. The journalists described the river as a sewer with a river inside”. The situation was so serious that, during the Great Stink“, a sitting of the Parliament had been interrupted because of the stench.

This situation made a lot of poets think about the transformation of the landscape.

William Blake

 

 

William Blake, autoritratto

 

London

   I wandered through each chartered street 

 Near where the chartered Thames does flow,

  A mark in every face I meet,

  Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

 In every cry of every man,  

 In every infant’s cry of fear,

  In every voice, in every ban,

  The mind-forged manacles I hear:

 How the chimney-sweeper’s cry

  Every blackening church appals,

  And the hapless soldier’s sigh

  Runs in blood down palace-walls.

 But most, through midnight streets I hear

  How the youthful harlot’s curse

  Blasts the new-born infant’s tear,

  And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

Analysis

London” in one of the most powerful descriptions of an industrialized town that can be found in literature.

In this poem, from Songs of Experience“, Blake illustrates his view of London. He focused his attention on the evil consequences of the Industrial Revolution: the injustices caused by a materialistic attitude and the commercial exploitation of human beings. In his poems he sympathized with the victims of industrial society such as children and prostitutes, as well as with the victims of institutional oppression such as orphans and soldiers.

Reading the first stanza we can already understand that there is a first person narrator because the first word of the poem is the I” pronoun. The poet uses words related to business to describe the city, moreover he underlines the suffering of people slaves of their working hours.

In the second stanza, in line 8, the poet introduces the image of manacles, this metaphor with a deep meaning: according to the poet, political and social institution had imprisoned people morally, they had forged mens mind so that they do what government wants them to do.

In this poem Blake condemns three institutions: Church, Monarchy (represented by the Palace) and Marriage.

Blake attacks blackning Church” because it doesn’t make anything to avoid childrens exploitation and forgets the truth and original religious spirit. The word blackning” indicates both the immorality of the Church and the fact that in Blakes time churches were black for the smoke and the pollution caused by urbanisation and industrialisation.

Then Blake condemns Monarchy because it puts at risk soldiers life who stand guard outside the royal palaces.

Finally he criticises Marriage that brings to prostitution because it reduces mens freedom. At that time there werent love-marriages but people got married only for interest. For this reason and because of the unemployment, women who belongs to low social classes became prostitutes; this phenomenon brings to moral degradation of the society, determined the birth of illegitimate children and the spread of many diseases (for example the syphilis) and caused the destruction of the families. So the poet links marriage to death with the image of the hearse“. In the last stanza, Blake says that the youthful Harlot blasts the new born Infants tear“: this means that there are no feelings, so it is useless to show pain or any other feelings because of the poverty of London industrial society.

The tone is initially emotional, grave and sombre, then it becomes indignant combining compassion for the oppressed with bitter scorn for the oppressor.

Londra

Ho vagato per ogni strada a noleggio

Vicino a dove scorre il Tamigi noleggiato,

Un segno in ogni volto che incontro,

Segni di debolezza, segni di dolore.

 

In ogni grido di ogni uomo,

Nel pianto di paura di ogni bambino,

In ogni voce, in ogni divieto,

Le manette forgiate dalla mente che sento:

 

Come grida lo spazzacamino

Ogni chiesa annerita atterrisce,

E il sospiro del soldato sfortunato

scorre nel sangue lungo le mura del palazzo.

Ma la maggior parte, attraverso le strade di mezzanotte, sento

Come la maledizione della giovane meretrice

fa esplodere la lacrima del neonato,

E avvizzisce di piaghe il carro funebre.

 

Analisi

Londra” in una delle più potenti descrizioni di una città industrializzata che si possano trovare in letteratura.

In questa poesia, da Songs of Experience”, Blake illustra la sua visione di Londra. Ha concentrato la sua attenzione sulle conseguenze nefaste della rivoluzione industriale: le ingiustizie causate da un atteggiamento materialista e lo sfruttamento commerciale degli esseri umani. Nelle sue poesie ha simpatizzato con le vittime della società industriale come bambini e prostitute, così come con le vittime dell’oppressione istituzionale, come orfani e soldati.

Leggendo la prima strofa si può già capire che c’è un narratore in prima persona perché la prima parola del poema è il pronome I”. Il poeta usa parole legate agli affari per descrivere la città, inoltre sottolinea la sofferenza delle persone schiave delle loro ore lavorative.

Nella seconda strofa, al verso 8, il poeta introduce l’immagine delle manette, questa metafora dal significato profondo: secondo il poeta, le istituzioni politiche e sociali avevano imprigionato moralmente le persone, avevano forgiato la mente degli uomini in modo che facessero ciò che il governo vuole. loro di fare.

In questa poesia Blake condanna tre istituzioni: Chiesa, Monarchia (rappresentata dal Palazzo) e Matrimonio.

Blake attacca “blackning Church” perché non fa nulla per evitare lo sfruttamento dei bambini e dimentica la verità e lo spirito religioso originale. La parola blackning “indica sia l’immoralità della Chiesa sia il fatto che ai tempi di Blake le chiese erano nere per il fumo e l’inquinamento”. causato dall’urbanizzazione e dall’industrializzazione.

Poi Blake condanna la Monarchia perché mette a rischio la vita dei soldati che fanno la guardia fuori dai palazzi reali.

Infine critica il matrimonio che porta alla prostituzione perché riduce la libertà dell’uomo. A quel tempo non c’erano matrimoni d’amore ma ci si sposava solo per interesse.

Per questo motivo e a causa della disoccupazione, le donne che appartengono ai ceti sociali più bassi si prostituivano; questo fenomeno porta al degrado morale della società, determina la nascita di figli illegittimi e la diffusione di molte malattie (ad esempio la sifilide) e provoca la distruzione delle famiglie. Così il poeta collega il matrimonio alla morte con l’immagine del “carro funebre”. Nell’ultima strofa, Blake dice che la giovane prostituta fa scoppiare le lacrime ai neonati”: ciò significa che non ci sono sentimenti, quindi è inutile mostrare dolore o qualsiasi altro sentimento a causa della povertà della società industriale londinese.

Il tono è inizialmente emotivo, grave e cupo, poi diventa indignato combinando la compassione per l’oppresso con l’amaro disprezzo per l’oppressore.

William Wordsworth

 

William Wordsworth, ritratto

Composed upon Westminster Bridge

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

  Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

  A sight so touching in its majesty:

  This City now doth, like a garment, wear

  The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

  Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

  Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

  All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

  Never did sun more beautifully steep

  In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;  10

  Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

  The river glideth at his own sweet will:

  Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

  And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Analysis

Wordsworth wrote that he composed this poem on the roof of a coach on his way to France. He had been stuck by the beautiful sight of London as he was crossing Westminster Bridge. It is an interesting example of the poets ability to give emotional power to what he describes.

This poem is written a few years after Blakes London”, it gives a different vision of the city, The sonnet expresses a deep emotion at the sight of the city asleep in the early morning sun. The City now does, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning, everything is sleeping and this sigh of the town arouse him a strong emotion. The occasion of the poem seems surprising for a poet who expressed in so many poems his love for nature and his distaste for the noisy and gloomy industrial cities.

Describing London the poet said that Earth has not anything to show more fair“, the city is represented with images which give it a sense of solemnity a sight so touching in its majesty and it is personified: the word City is written with the capital letter and the poet used terms normally linked to people, the city wears” like a garment” that heart”.

To give the sense of calm he used the adjectives silent, smokeless to underline that it is early in the morning and London is beautiful because the factories are sleeping, there is not pollution and the city is not dirty. We can find an indirectly accuse of industrialisation. Only when the factories are closed, ships, towers and theatre are bare and when the town in silent, it is also beautiful because it is not spoilt by industrialisation and pollution.

The explanation is to be fond in the particular moment of the day which seems to bathe London in the same clear and smokeless” air as the natural landscape, and which creates a continuity between the city and the countryside around.

It is then possible for the poet to associate it towers, ships, domes with valley, rock and hill and to see them as a part of to natural world.

 

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth, ritratto

Composed upon Westminster Bridge

 Earth has not anything to show more fair:

  Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

  A sight so touching in its majesty:

  This City now doth, like a garment, wear

  The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

  Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

  Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

  All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

  Never did sun more beautifully steep

  In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;  10

  Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

  The river glideth at his own sweet will:

  Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

  And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Analysis

Wordsworth wrote that he composed this poem on the roof of a coach on his way to France. He had been stuck by the beautiful sight of London as he was crossing Westminster Bridge. It is an interesting example of the poets ability to give emotional power to what he describes.

This poem is written a few years after Blakes London”, it gives a different vision of the city, The sonnet expresses a deep emotion at the sight of the city asleep in the early morning sun. The City now does, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning, everything is sleeping and this sigh of the town arouse him a strong emotion. The occasion of the poem seems surprising for a poet who expressed in so many poems his love for nature and his distaste for the noisy and gloomy industrial cities.

Describing London the poet said that Earth has not anything to show more fair“, the city is represented with images which give it a sense of solemnity a sight so touching in its majesty and it is personified: the word City is written with the capital letter and the poet used terms normally linked to people, the city wears” like a garment” that heart”.

To give the sense of calm he used the adjectives silent, smokeless to underline that it is early in the morning and London is beautiful because the factories are sleeping, there is not pollution and the city is not dirty. We can find an indirectly accuse of industrialisation. Only when the factories are closed, ships, towers and theatre are bare and when the town in silent, it is also beautiful because it is not spoilt by industrialisation and pollution.

The explanation is to be fond in the particular moment of the day which seems to bathe London in the same clear and smokeless” air as the natural landscape, and which creates a continuity between the city and the countryside around.

It is then possible for the poet to associate it towers, ships, domes with valley, rock and hill and to see them as a part of to natural world.

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