Compare the ways in which Blake and Larkin present the theme of corruption in their poems.
Compare the ways in which Blake and Larkin present the theme of corruption in their poems.
William Blake and Phillip Larkin are very different poets; they have different techniques to convey their ideas but both skilfully are able to establish a connection with the audience through these different means. The two poets, despite being separated in time successfully convey even to a modern day reader the theme of corruption in their poems, concentrating on Blake’s “London” and “The Chimney Sweep” and Larkins’ “Sunny Prestatyn” and “Mr.Bleaney.”
Larkin uses a persona as narrator of the poem “Mr. Bleaney” to introduce the theme of alienation by a corrupt, uncaring society. The narrator becomes the occupant of a room previously rented by Mr. Bleaney and the dramatic monologue highlights the lonely life of the man who never speaks and whom we only see through the medium of his abandoned room. Larkin uses slow, ponderous lines at the start to express a sinister undertone. Mr. Bleaney is only ever shown as a metaphor for the past. His life is presented as trivial, worthless and irrelevant as demonstrated in expressions such as “his preference for sauce too gravy.”
The room is unappealing, the curtains “thin and frayed”, the room has “no hook behind the door”, “no room for books.” This suggests emptiness and is a forceful image for the reader, eliciting sympathy and regret at the perceived suffering of the man whose room appears to have taken on his own characteristics. There is a further sinister, corrupt element introduced in the words, “they moved him” coupled with a reference to “bodies” which could be taken as the innocent colloquial term in the 1950s for car manufacture, but also suggests death. “They” represents society as a whole and Bleaney is presented as a victim. The room’s cold dinginess is summed up by the image of the “fusty bed” and the reader is left with the impression of detachment, isolation and lack of control as the poet uses language to create a
William Blake and Phillip Larkin are very different poets; they have different techniques to convey their ideas but both skilfully are able to establish a connection with the audience through these different means. The two poets, despite being separated in time successfully convey even to a modern day reader the theme of corruption in their poems, concentrating on Blake’s “London” and “The Chimney Sweep” and Larkins’ “Sunny Prestatyn” and “Mr.Bleaney.”
Larkin uses a persona as narrator of the poem “Mr. Bleaney” to introduce the theme of alienation by a corrupt, uncaring society. The narrator becomes the occupant of a room previously rented by Mr. Bleaney and the dramatic monologue highlights the lonely life of the man who never speaks and whom we only see through the medium of his abandoned room. Larkin uses slow, ponderous lines at the start to express a sinister undertone. Mr. Bleaney is only ever shown as a metaphor for the past. His life is presented as trivial, worthless and irrelevant as demonstrated in expressions such as “his preference for sauce too gravy.”
The room is unappealing, the curtains “thin and frayed”, the room has “no hook behind the door”, “no room for books.” This suggests emptiness and is a forceful image for the reader, eliciting sympathy and regret at the perceived suffering of the man whose room appears to have taken on his own characteristics. There is a further sinister, corrupt element introduced in the words, “they moved him” coupled with a reference to “bodies” which could be taken as the innocent colloquial term in the 1950s for car manufacture, but also suggests death. “They” represents society as a whole and Bleaney is presented as a victim. The room’s cold dinginess is summed up by the image of the “fusty bed” and the reader is left with the impression of detachment, isolation and lack of control as the poet uses language to create a