“Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge”

ByWilliam Wordsworth (1770- 1850)

(First year Compulsory English Course)

The Poet

• William Wordsworth • Poet of Nature• Pioneer of the Romantic Era• The Poet Laureate

The Romantic Poetry• “Poetry is a

spontaneous overflow of emotions recollected in tranquility.

• Main Romantic poets; Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron and Keats.

Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

• What is a Sonnet?• Origin of sonnet.• Types of sonnet.• Parts of sonnet.• Octave (first eight

lines)• Sestet (Last six

Lines)

• The composition of Sonnet by Wordsworth reflects the romantic belief that beauty is a perpetual source of joy and relaxation as is said by Keats:

“ A thing of Beauty is a joy forever”

• Wordsworth got captivated by the heavenly beauty of London at dawn, while enjoying his morning walk on the Westminster bridge.

• He captured the scene with the help of his inward eye and later on recollected the same by making use of his rich imagination and composed this beautiful sonnet.

• The sonnet enjoys a unique status in the collection of Wordsworth’s poetry.

• The uniqueness of the sonnet lies in the fact that here poet admires the man-made beauty unlike his common practice of appreciating natural beauty.

Use of Figures of Speech

• Simile• Metaphor• Personification• Alliteration

Thank youShireen khan

Asst. ProfessorEnglish Department

DA College for Women Phase 8