Compare Two Poems: 'London' and 'London's Summer Morning'

In this activity, we will be looking at two poems and comparing them.

First, read these two poems about London.

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Text One

London

by William Blake

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,

In every Infants cry of fear,

In every voice: in every ban,

The mind-forg'd manacles I hear

How the Chimney-sweepers cry

Every blackning Church appalls,

And the hapless Soldiers sigh

Runs in blood down Palace walls

But most thro' midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlots curse

Blasts the new-born Infants tear

And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse

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Text Two

Extract from

London's Summer Morning

by Mary Robinson

Who has not waked to list the busy sounds

Of summer's morning, in the sultry smoke

Of noisy London? On the pavement hot

The sooty chimney-boy, with dingy face

And tatter'd covering, shrilly bawls his trade,

Rousing the sleepy housemaid. At the door

The milk-pail rattles, and the tinkling bell

Proclaims the dustman's office; while the street

Is lost in clouds impervious. Now begins

The din of hackney-coaches, waggons, carts;

While tinmen's shops, and noisy trunk-makers,

Knife-grinders, coopers, squeaking cork-cutters,

Fruit barrows, and the hunger-giving cries

Of vegetable venders, fill the air.

Now every shop displays its varied trade,

And the fresh-sprinkled pavement cools the feet

Of early walkers...

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Now let's go through the activity together and answer the questions.

If you need to read the poems again, you can do so by clicking on the red help button on the side of the screen.