William blake london

I wander through each chartered street,

Near where the chartered Thames does flow,

And 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 black’ning church appalls,

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 plague the marriage hearse.

1. Where is the speaker in London walking?

2. What does he see?

3. What does he hear?

4. This mixing up of the senses, i.e., hearing sights or seeing sounds, etc. is common in Romantic poetry and helps to convey complicated mental states. The speaker of this poem hears many things, some are sounds and some are sights. What are they?

5. It is certainly possible for a city with its streets to be chartered, but not a river. What do rivers often symbolize? What might a chartered river symbolize?

6. What connection is there between the Chimney Sweeper's cry and the Church? See the poems about chimney­sweepers above.

7. What connection is there between an unfortunate solider and the palace where the king lives?

8. Why does Blake refer to the 'Marriage hearse'? What does this imply about weddings?

William wordsworth " 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 splendor, valley, rock, or hill;

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!

1. What time of day is it? Will this quiet scene last?

2. Explain the choice of the word "heart" in the last line. Why is the heart chosen (rather than brain, liver, etc.) for the synecdoche? Discuss how this synecdoche personifies the city.

3. How do the repealed enforced pauses of line 6 help too create the impression of size and diversity, which Wordsworth wants to give of London?

S.T.Coleridge From the rime of the ancient mariner

(Lines 83-138)

The Sun came up upon the right,

Out of the Sea came he;

And broad as a weft¹ upon the left

Went down into the Sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind,

But no sweet Bird did follow

Ne² any day for food or play

Came to the Mariner's hollo³!

And I had done an hellish thing to

And it would work 'em woe⁴:

For all averr'd⁵, I had kill'd the Bird

That made the Breeze to blow.

Ne dim ne red, like God's own head,

The glorious Sun uprisf:

Then all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird

That brought the fog and mist.

'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay⁷

That bring the fog and mist.

The breezes blew, the white foam flew, so

The furrow⁸ follow'd free:

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent Sea.

Down dropt⁹ the breeze, the Sails dropt down,

'Twas sad as sad could be

And we did speak only to break

The silence of the Sea.

All in a hot and copper sky

The bloody sun at noon,

Right up above the mast did stand,

No bigger than the moon.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, ne breath ne motion,

As idle as a painted Ship

Upon a painted Ocean.

Water, water, every where

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where

Ne any drop to drink.

The very deeps¹⁰ did rot¹¹: O Christ!

That ever this should be!

Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs

Upon the slimy Sea.

About, about, in reel and rout¹²

The Death-fires danc'd at night;

The water, like a witch's oils,

Burnt green and blue and white.

And some in dreams assured were

Of the Spirit that plagued¹³ us so:

Nine fathom¹⁴ deep he had follow'd us

From the Land of Mist and Snow.

And every tongue thro' utter drouth¹⁵

Was wither'd¹⁶ at the root;

We could not speak no more than if

We had been choked with soot¹⁷.

Ah wel-a-day!¹⁸ what evil looks

Had I from old and young;

Instead of the Cross the Albatross

About my neck was hung.

1. weft: cross threads of a web

2. ne: nor.

3. hollo: call

4. work 'em woe: bring them misfortune

5. averr'd: claimed

6. uprist: rose up

7. slay: kill

8. furrow: movement of the water

9. dropt: dropped

10. deeps: bottom of the ocean

11. rot: become rotten

12. reel and rout: violent, tumultuous action.

13. plagued: haunted, followed incessantly.

14. fathom: a unit of measurement for the sea.

15. drouth: drought, lack of water.

16. wither'd: dried up.

17. soot: chimney dust.

18.wel-a-day: Alas! (an obsolete exclamation).

1. What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

2. Find at least two examples of each of the following:

• repetition …………………………………………..

• alliteration...............................................................

• internal rhyme.........................................................

• archaic language .....................................................

• simile ......................................................................

3. Find examples in the text of supernatural phenomena. Describe the effect they have on you and comment on Coleridge's declared aims with regard to his task in the Lyrical Ballads.

4. In which direction was the ship going? How do you know this?

5. Describe in your own words what happens to the ship.

6. How does the mariner feel about having killed the albatross? How do his fellow mariners react? Are they consistent in their attitude? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

7. Why do you think the mariner killed the albatross? Was there any justification for his action?

8. Have you ever done something in a moment of folly which you later regretted? How, if at all, did you try to make up for this action?