How do both poets present London through their poetry?
Over the years, London has become a world renowned place, a place of culture and diversity with many attractions bringing tourists from all over the world. However, it hasn’t always been like this, in the 18th century, although London was the worlds largest city, it was dirty, filled with the smell of waste materials, rotting rubbish and quite a dangerous place to live. There was unplanned housing, where many residents lived in horrendous conditions with two families or maybe more living in one small house. The number of people in one family was large in the 18th century, having ten or more children was not uncommon, living in these kinds of conditions lead to infections, and illnesses such as cholera and tuberculosis.
London was not a nice place to live, raw sewage ran through the streets, it was common for people to empty their chamber pots out of their windows, sanitation was unheard of and water was unpurified. The streets of London were filled with crime, penalties for crime were harsh, and some were charged with death penalties for minor crimes. Public hangings were common in London, and were popular public events. Nevertheless London started to change at a fast rate; Mayfair was built in the West End London for the rich, London Bridge was built, Westminster was opened and the plans for Buckingham palace were put into practise. The people of London were unaware of what was to come in the 19th century.
As times changed, London became more modern, railways were introduced, families and housing shrank, and standards of living were rising, people started to use coal for heating in their homes. The smoke from this combined with climate conditions caused, what is known as ‘Smog’ or ‘London fog’. London was not only known for this, but throughout the years became known for the music produced in the UK. British artists such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had become so successful; London became a...