London by Samuel Johnson Essay Sample
London: A Poem” was published anonymously in 1738. and was instantly popular. possibly because. unlike the ulterior “The Vanity of Human Wishes. ” it is reasonably easy to read: Alexander Pope praised it. and the destitute Johnson received 10 guineas from Edward Cave. the publishing house. for the right of first publication. It is. the writer provinces. a poem written “In imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal. ” The Third Satire is a verse form about the decay of ancient Rome and the degeneracy which the poet found at that place: how closely. ( for those of you who care to look at the original ) do Johnson’s Heroic Couplets echo Juvenal’s subjects. images. and accent? In what ways does Johnson’s version differ?
What kind of London does Johnson show us with? Can you associate his vision of London to Blake’s? To Dickens’s in Great Expectations? To Eliot’s in The Wasteland? What is he connoting about the province of English society in general and authorities in peculiar? Is he being realistic. or is he so captive on political sarcasm. directed at George II ( who appears here as the “k — g” ) and at Sir Robert Walpole. the Prime Minister. that he exagerates or distorts facts and contexts? What is the point. for illustration. of his sardonic mentions ( which at the clip were instead make bolding and even unsafe ) to the King’s sexual propensities? How does the tone of this verse form reflect Johnson’s ain position on authorities and on the corruptness and force the policies of this authorities have fostered. and on his ain private province of head ( and personal businesss ) at the clip?
In what ways. that is. is “London” a verse form about the loss of semblances. about the resentment of failure? ) In what senses is this ( in subject. in tone. in construction. in verse signifier ) a Neo-classical verse form? How does Johnson contrast the metropolis with the state. the present with the yesteryear. the honest with the corrupt. the wealthy with the hapless?
