Both William Wordsworth and William Blake were distressed by the fate of man in the early 19th century. Their separate but somewhat unified views of man's problems are set out in their poems "Lines Written in Early Spring" (lines 5-24) and "London" respectively. They both use several poetic devices in very different ways to convey roughly the same meaning. Each poet uses the mood of their poem to show how deeply conflicted the man is, although the tone of each poem contrasts greatly with the other. Blake and Wordsworth also relate man to another entity, and each also uses a system of meter and rhyme to show the same thing. Stylistically, the poems are extremely different and the content of each is extremely different, but ultimately they both point out the same issues facing man. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Wordsworth's "Lines" immediately sets the tone by placing the reader in a pleasant situation and using peaceful imagery. The reader is taken to a grove in which the writer observes nature; the birds “jumped and played” (13), which “seemed a thrill of pleasure” (16), and “The budding twigs spread their fans/To catch the windy air” (17). He strives to illustrate the joy and serenity that surrounds him while only hinting at man's much darker plight without specifying it, without even coming close to breaking the tone he so carefully sets built. In fact, because he deliberately avoids saying exactly what "man has made of man" (8), he allows the reader to imagine the whole dilemma for himself and, unlike the environment peaceful of the grove, the reader is very likely to imagine the worst. Blake, on the other hand, uses harsh and tragic imagery to express how harsh and tragic the world was. While Wordsworth's tactic was to use gentle imagery to show how troubled the man was, Blake uses harsh imagery to show the same thing. He writes that “the sigh of the unfortunate soldier flows in blood on the walls of the palace” (11), and twice uses the cries of infants (6, 15). He uses words that impose on the reader images of being ruled, of being oppressed. The minds of working-class men are chained, and the streets and river themselves are “approved,” or sanctioned, by the ruling class. He juxtaposes the words “wedding” and “hearse” in the last line, as the last two words of the poem, to show that everything that once represented life and happiness now means death and sadness. While Wordsworth subtly hints at the problems man has brought upon himself, Blake imposes them on the reader so that the point cannot be missed. One of the most striking images that Blake brings into play is that of the “black church” (10). . It is crucial to consider the meaning of this line. The word "black'ning" functions as both transitive and intransitive. The church is both increasingly blackened and acts as an agent of blackening for the people, like the chimney sweep in the previous line. The Church, or those who lead it, are not doing their job in the world Blake describes. The Church is associated with the elitist ruling class, and the Church itself becomes dirty, covered in the soot of the oppression it distributes, thus perpetuating the tyranny of the ruling class. Wordsworth also introduces God into his poem and comments on his role in the world he describes. In "Lines", man is linked to Nature andNature to God. Every element of Wordworth's poem appreciates the simple act of being. When he writes in the last stanza: "If this belief is sent from heaven / If this is nature's sacred plan / Have I not reason to lament / What has man done of man? (21), he clearly says that although we are supposed to live as nature lives, man does not, hence his sadness. We are not following the plan. In both poems, God is disobeyed, and it is partly this disobedience that causes so much discord, although Blake perhaps says it more explicitly than Wordsworth. By writing about nature enjoying the act of being, Wordsworth does more than just show that we are not following God's plan. It also shows the connection between man and Nature through personification. He writes that "...each flower/enjoys the air it breathes" (11), and that the branches "...stretch out their fans/to catch the windy air"(17). Earlier, by saying that Nature is linked to "The human soul that ran through me" (6), he later shows how there is a little human soul in every movement and action of Nature, as in the The flower acts enjoying breathing and the twigs find pleasure in the breeze. He writes about the way things should be and simply states that they are not. Blake, on the other hand, writes bluntly about what is and is not concerned with how things should be. It does this by tying the working man to the institution of the elitist and oppressive upper class. Blake strategically capitalizes only particular words in his poem. Every word he capitalizes is either a member of the rural class ("Children" (6), "Chimney sweeps" (9), "Prostitute" (14)) or a symbol of the overwhelming aristocracy ( "Thames" (2), "Church" (10), "Palace" (12)). It subtly shows that the man and the institution are in direct opposition and, by capitalizing on them, he gives them both the power to dominate. Both poets connect man to another entity in order to show a problem in the system. Blake and Wordsworth also use their language to help express man's crisis. Blake uses complex wording to reflect the complexity of the issues. It attempts to depict a world in which the rapidly industrializing economy corrupts and poisons everything it comes into contact with. He uses phrases such as "mind-forged manacles" (8), which is a complicated and terrible thought expressed in just two words, and "Every black'ning Church dismays" (10), which is also a complicated phrase , being that it can have more than one meaning. He invites the reader to stop and think about what he is saying, and not to take it lightly. His metaphors are stark and violent, and his lines move quickly and seem almost rushed. This corresponds to how he feels about the plight of man. It is a difficult, violent situation and one that continues to grow at a rapid pace. Wordsworth, however, uses simple language to show that the problem we face is simple at its core. It uses very basic vocabulary to represent very basic images; in fact, he only uses one word in the entire poem that has more than two syllables. The reader doesn't need more to see that a problem exists, especially since Wordsworth wants the reader to view the problem in his or her own way. More complex words might invite a more complex image, which the poet does not want. He simply wants to show that man is not consistent with his roots, which is a simple idea that can be expressed in a simple way. The roots themselves are simple, since man should enjoy life as it is, and do nothing else with humanity. The system of.