Mary Robison

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What is a full analysis of Mary Robinson's "London Summer Morning" poem?

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Mary Robinson's "London Summer Morning" depicts the bustling and gritty atmosphere of 18th-century London using blank verse, a non-rhymed iambic pentameter. The poem contrasts the lofty meter with vivid imagery of street life, including chimney sweeps, insects, and peddlers, creating a sense of surprise and shock akin to a hot city day. Robinson employs alliteration to emphasize the city's clamor, effectively capturing the noise and chaos of a typical London morning.

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Mary Darby Robinson chronicles the daily sights and sounds of 18th century London in her poem "London's Summer Morning."  She writes in blank verse, which is non-rhymed iambic pentameter, the same meter used by Shakespeare.  This somewhat lofty meter is juxtaposed with the grime and grit of a London street: chimney sweeps, insects, and peddlers selling supposedly stolen goods.  These are not the sights we would expect to see, and Robinson uses this assumption to shock the reader, in much the same way that a blistering hot day in the city would shock.  Similarly, Robinson uses alliteration to convey the clamor of a big city: "tinmen’s shops, and noisy trunk-makers,/Knife-grinders, coopers, squeaking cork-cutters."  This is a loud, dirty, busy poem that effectively captures a loud, dirty, busy London day.

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