Composed on Westminster Bridge

By William Wordsworth

Write a short descriptive paragraph on any ONE of the following pictures:

ContextWordsworth's inspiration for the poem seems to come from the view

he saw from Westminster Bridge in London on the morning of July 31, 1802, although he didn’t write the poem until September the same year. The people of the city were still in bed and the factories had not yet polluted the air with smoke. He and his sister, Dorothy, were crossing the bridge in a coach taking them to a boat for a trip across the English Channel to France. In her diary, Dorothy wrote:

‘We mounted the Dover Coach at Charing Cross. It was a beautiful morning. The City, St. Paul's, with the River and a Multitude of little boats, made a most beautiful sight.... The houses were not overhung with their cloud of smoke and they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly with such pure light that there was even something like a purity of Nature's own grand spectacles.’

What Type of Poem is This?Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

How many lines does it have?

How many syllables per line?

What is the rhyme scheme?

The Petrarchan or Italian form usually follows a rhyme scheme of abba abba cde cde. The poem is usually divided into two sections with the first eight lines, an octave, and the last six, a sestet. There is usually a turn in the poem around line nine.[4] The Shakespearean form has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. The end rhyming couplet is often used to turn the idea that has been building through the poem.

Line by Line Analysis‘Earth has not anything

to show more fair:’

The poem opens with a confident statement:

It is a hyperbole, as he says this is the 'fairest sight in the world'.

The use of the colon indicates that he is about to create a ______?

‘Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty

“Fair” and “dull” create a contrast between the earth’s beauty and a soul’s dullness.

“Majesty” refers not only to the description but also literally to Westminster Abbey, where the King’s/Queen’s of England are coronated

Line by Line Analysis‘This City now, doth like

a garment wearThe beauty of the morning; silent, bare

These two lines contradict each other:

The City is “wearing” a garment (What figure of speech is this?)

But the beauty of the morning is “silent” and “bare”

Write down the literal meaning of the city being “bare” (Think of the time of day)

‘Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie

Upon unto the fields and the sky

We finally have a list of buildings that make up the city.

Which is opposed in the following line where the focus is on nature again.

Wordsworth creates a balance between the City and Nature (both exist together)

Line by Line Analysis‘All bright and glittering

in the smokeless air

Literal Meaning: Identify why a city would “glitter” in the morning.

Figurative Meaning: According to the previous stanzas, what would be glittering? (Extended metaphor of...?)

Why would the Poet make a comment on the “Smokeless Air” What Historical Movement is the poem associated with.

(Think of the year it was composed, 1802)

This is the Eighth Line of the poem and it forms a break, before the next part.

(Eight lines are known as an OctetThe final six lines form a Sextet)

Line by Line Analysis‘Never did sun more

beautifully steepIn his first splendour,

valley, rock or hill

What is the effect of the word steep? What architecture feature does it remind you of?

We have nature Juxtaposed again with the buildings,

Ne’er saw I, never felt a calm so deep!

Here the poet talks about the effect on him.

This is a break from the descriptive paragraphs previously seen, and he reflects on the effect on him.

Line by Line Analysis‘The river glideth, at his

own sweet will

What river is the poet referring to?

What are the connotations of “glide” and how does this relate to the feelings of the author in the previous line?

Dear God! The very houses seem asleep

And all that mighty heart is lying still

Identify the words the author chose that extend your understanding of his emotions?

What figure of speech is used in the final lines?

Looking carefully at the Octet and Sextet, what is the difference between the two parts of the poem?

The Romantic Movement Many of the sonnets and poems of

the era describe the calm, beauty, power or sublimity of nature.

Understanding, appreciating, exploring, or worshipping, the Romantics were always at work to try to draw themselves closer to nature.

Nature is often personified to show the closeness in the relationship to humans and nature.

In other poems a reverse kind of personification happens, and man takes on the qualities of nature.

How is Composed on Westminster Bridge a romantic poem?

Does it use man-made or nature imagery?

What aspects of nature is present in the poem? (List them)

What is his overall theme?How is the theme developed

using contrasts?