Poem by William Wordsworth " Composed upon Westminster bridge September 3, 1802"

"The composed upon Westminster bridge September 3, 1802"

By William Wordsworth 

 Hello everyone……

In this lesson I'm going to deal with the poem names "Composed upon Westminster bridge September 3, 1802" , which is written by the most famous writer William Wordsworth. Before discussing main poem let's look apon points like, brief information about romantic period, short biography of poet( William Wordsworth) , 

Brief note about the main poem 'composed upon Westminster bridge' as well as the summary of the poem . 

Romantic period:

William Wordsworth is the most famous poet during the romantic period, so before discussing the poet, this is the brief information about the romantic period. The Romantic Period began roughly around 1798 and lasted until 1837. The political and economic atmosphere at the time heavily influenced this period, with many writers finding inspiration from the French Revolution. There was a lot of social change during this period. Calls for the abolition of slavery became louder during this time, with more writing openly about their objections. After the Agricultural Revolution people moved away from the countryside and farmland and into the cities, where the Industrial Revolution provided jobs and technological innovations, something that would spread to the United States in the 19th century. Romanticism was a reaction against this spread of industrialism, as well as a criticism of the aristocratic social and political norms and a call for more attention to nature. Although writers of this time did not think of themselves as Romantics, Victorian writers later classified them in this way because of their ability to capture the emotion and tenderness of man.

William Wordsworth as a poet: 

Scholars say that the Romantic Period began with the publishing of Lyrical Ballads (1798) by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This was one of the first collections of poems that strayed from the more formal poetic diction of the Neoclassical Period. Poets of the period instead used everyday words that the average person could understand. This also aided in expressing human emotion. Wordsworth primarily wrote about nature. He felt it could provide a source of mental cleanliness and spiritual understanding. One of Wordsworth’s well-known works is “The Solitary Reaper” (1807). This poem praises the beauty of music and shows the outpouring of expression and emotion that Wordsworth felt was necessary in poetry. His greatest piece is The Prelude (1850), a semi-autobiographical, conversation poem that chronicles Wordsworth’s entire life. Conversational poetry was the literary genre most commonly used by Wordsworth and Coleridge, with the latter writing a series of eight poems following the genre structure of conversational verse and examining higher ideas of nature, man, and morality. This poetry is written in blank verse and is extremely personal and intimate in nature, with much of the content based on the author’s life.

Coleridge and Wordsworth were very good friends and the two often influenced each other. While Wordsworth was much more meditative and calm, Coleridge was the opposite and lived a more uncontrolled life. Of his three major poems only one is complete: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798). This poem tells the story of a sailor’s journey and his experiences on the ship. The sailor is cursed by supernatural powers and is only able to return home when he appreciates the animals and nature around him. He is forced to wander the Earth sharing his story due to his earlier mistakes. His two other long form poems are Kubla Khan (1816) and Christabel (1816). According to Coleridge, his poem Kubla Khan came to him in an opium-induced dream after reading a work about Chinese emperor Kublai Khan. He was never able to finish the work. Christabel tells the story of the title character meeting a stranger named Geraldine who asks for Christabel’s help. Ignoring the supernatural signs, Christabel rescues and takes her home, but it appears that the stranger is not normal. Coleridge was only able to finish two out of his five intended parts to the poem. Okay , so now we move to our main topic " Composed upon Westminster bridge September 3, 1802" 

Composed upon Westminster bridge September 3, 1802 : 

‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802’ is a sonnet by William Wordsworth (1770-1850) describing London and the River Thames, viewed from Westminster Bridge in the early morning. Inspiration for the poem was provided by a journey made by Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy through London. The pair were en route to Calais where they were to meet William’s illegitimate daughter, Caroline, for the first time. At dawn they boarded the coach from Charing Cross to Dover. In her Journal, Dorothy described crossing Westminster Bridge, noting London’s beauty: ‘there was even something like the purity of one of nature’s own grand spectacles’. Wordsworth conveyed these feelings in his sonnet, completing it on their return journey in September. The speaker celebrates the majestic, ‘sleeping’ city, using the technique of personification.

The poem is a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, arranged into an octave or eight-line section and a sestet or six-line section (although unlike some Petrarchan sonnets, Wordsworth does not have a blank line dividing the eighth and ninth line), rhyming abbaabba and cdcdcd (the abba abba rhyme scheme in the first eight lines is the giveaway that this is a Petrarchan sonnet). The first eight lines praise the beauty of London in the early morning light, as the poet stands on Westminster Bridge admiring the surrounding buildings.

Summary of the poem "Composed upon Westminster bridge" : 

Wordsworth’s Composed ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’, September 3, 1802, is a pretty straightforward poem. It features a speaker sharing his impressions of the view from, you guessed it, Westminster Bridge. The poem takes shape as the speaker describes the sights and feelings of a quiet early morning before the city springs to life.

Line 1-3

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:

Wordsworth begins by describing the view from Westminster Bridge and praises it, says that “there is nothing fairer in all the world”. And anyone who could see such a sight and just carry-on walking past without stopping to admire the view would be soulless indeed.

Line 4-8

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.

London appears to wear the morning’s beauty like a piece of clothing. The ships, towers, and other buildings that make up the London skyline are silent and ‘bare’. Here there is no flashiness but plain and simple beauty, despite the man-made origins of these structures.

These buildings appear to be adapting to nature: they ‘lie / Open’ to the fields and the sky, those earthly and ethereal landscapes that sandwich them, as if the London buildings are between earthly beauty and the beauty of the heavens, and exist not in contrast to them but as a natural bridge between them. Because the workaday world hasn’t started yet and the wheels of industry are still, the air is ‘smokeless’ at the moment: clear and clean.

Line 9-12

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:

Wordsworth praises being a nature poet that the sun never rose so beautifully, not even the natural features of valleys, rocks, or hills, have looked so beautiful and the poet felt calm to watch the scales and the outlines of these city buildings. Wordsworth connects with the calm of the country’s capital before the business day begins.

Line 13-15

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Even the Thames appears to be taking its time, slowly flowing through the city and under Wordsworth’s feet. Wordsworth returns to the buildings of the city in his reference to the houses: the people are indoors asleep, but the bricks and mortar of the houses seem to be hypnotised. The heart of London, the people who make it what it is, are all lying asleep, still and calm.

Conclusion: 

Wordsworth’s poems were a celebration of the natural beauty provided by the earth, and it is thus unusual to come across a poem of his that so celebrates the beauty of man-made structures. Wordsworth’s admiration takes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, an Italian sonnet that was primarily used to express romantic love. It is made up of 14 lines: an octave, followed by a set.

In the end, the poet appears to be stunned into complete silence by the beauty of London. ‘Dear God! The very houses seem asleep; and all that mighty heart is lying still’, he writes, using the exclamation to bring to a head the point that he has been labouring towards the entire poem: the beauty of London in the early morning is a stunning sight, and one that should be seen to be believed.