Blake's Carpe Diem?
In the poem "London" by William Blake the speaker describes a very unappealing and bleak picture of London in the first three stanzas. He uses words such as woe, fear, weakness, and speaks of the appalling black on the church walls, and the blood of soldiers. He then goes on in the final stanza to explain how a Harlot is jealous of the lives of others, particularly a newborn and a newly married couple. It is this last stanza and the attitude of the Harlot that gives this poem it's small but present carpe diem theme.
The Harlot is jealous because she has not used her time as best she could. In other words, she has not seized her day, or time. She has wasted her time, and her life in doing a job that is considered immoral, dirty, and for this she is seen as less than a person. The speaker's description of the nastiness of London coincides with society's normal view of a prostitute. Both are less than desirable.
It is this contrast of new and the old......
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Approximate Word Count: 282
Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |