Nick Tancill- Blog Post 1

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          I found the drawing, "The Silent Highwayman," by John Tenniel, to represent a very interesting aspect of the Thames during the Victorian era. This illustration shows the dirtiness and decay within and around the Thames. The "Highwayman" is used as a way to represent the danger and death of the water flowing through the heart of London. The depths of the mysterious river, a cesspool of filth and disease.

          This drawing represents an opinion that many Londoners, including Charles Dickens and William Blake, had about the dirty river. Dickens and Blake thought of the Thames as more than just a river. They both saw it as an area of not only filth, but also an area of crime and suffering. "Near where the charter'd Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet, Marks of weakness, marks of woe"(Blake, 1). Blake is stating that where've he travels around the Thames, he is met by suffering and sad people. Their writings on the filth of the Thames and the areas around it really puts London's progress in perspective. On our Thames boat trip, it was hard to imagine the river being surrounded by such filth and suffering. I thought of the words of Dickens and Blake and tried to imagine myself surrounded by slums. At the time the stink of the Thames must have been unbearable. Looking at the water, I imagined trash and other filth floating by. Considering it was a beautiful day with clear skies, it was hard to imagines large plumes of smoke and fog floating about the dark mysterious river like the image above suggests. Even though I still think the Thames is kind of gross, I am happy I didn't see it in the mid 1800's.

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