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!
Notes
Form:
abbaabbacdcdcd
1.
Dorothy Wordsworth in her Journal July 31, 1802, described the scene as she and her brother left London, early in the morning, for their month-long visit to Calais: "It was a beautiful morning. The city, St. Paul's, with the river, and a multitude of little boats, made a most beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not overhung by their cloud of smoke, and they were
spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly, with such a fierce light\; that there was something like the purity of one of nature's own grand spectacles."
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Comments
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Here Wordsworth see Londen as a city of pollution but he love this morning the clean and fresh morning he realize that this city is more beautifull then i think. He love the nature
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Composed upon WEstminster Bridge September 3 1802
From guest Rosemary M. Kenny (contact)
I found Wordsworth's poem very easy to read with its lyrical expressions of wonder and delight at seeing the scenes of London life before him. You can tell that it must have been early in the morning by the way he says even the houses seem asleep! He can't have seen it often enough to become jaded with the view, or cynical with how he wrote about it. A lovely poem! -
From guest freespirit51 (contact)
Beautiful..Although this seems such a word unbefitting such a reamarkable poem as this. He truly was a wonderful poet and could describe such a wonderous sleeping city. -
From guest b (contact)
I've never read anything like this before. I to have had to analyze this poem and have had many questions. I love this poem inparticular because for one person to see a new day like this is rare. Most of us are happy to be alive, but I'm sure most of us don't appreciate nature as a whole. I know that I take for granted hald of the ideas he has mentioned in this poem. He is a great writer and I'd love to have met him. -
From guest Student (contact)
I loved this poem--like so many students--until I had to analyse it for Literature. Then I discovered that this beautiful poem which so clearly described the beauty of early morning had become one of my biggest headaches. However it is a lovely poem, when one is not analysing it. -
From guest Matt (contact)
Capitiavted the first time i read this, Wordsworth really is in his own class but as much as i have analysed this poem i struggle to see the alliteration? If any would care to show me I'd greatly apperciate it Matt -
question
From guest reet (contact)
can sum1 plzzzzz answer this question -How has wordsworth presented his ideas and feelings on london in the poem ? -
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To guest reet.
His feelings are fairly clear in Line 1, Lines 6,7,8, Line 11, Line 12, Line 13.
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From guest Somebody (contact)
im currently doing a coursweork on camparing compose and london can sombody help me out ive already compared the both until the last 6 lines of each n ive got to say they r both terrrific poems -
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It is very rare for any piece of writting to capture the sleeping personnality of a city dawning into a new, fresh day. It is something usually needed to be experianced first hand, though this piece is as near as I could imagine.
A very fine example of classicly discriptive poetry. Always a joy to experiance.
Andrew -
I liked the poem alot...until I had to analyse it for my Eng.Lit coursework
Now I just want to get it over and done with because it's taking me hours! We also got a different rhyming structure to what it says on this site...so I'm confused.
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This is simply gorgeous!
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yea he spent too much time smoking opium with coleridge. maybe thats y coleridge got an opium induced dream which inspired him to write kubla khan. i think the opium got to willy in this one too. =P
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i love this poem so much - think it is absolutely stunning and a brilliant description of London, but i have to write an analysis on it and i have to say, its not the easiest. ive been doing it for about three hours now and feel like crying...
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I just loved this it was beautiful
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why else are we here but to experience and express beauty ? I love pieces like this that capture and communicate life's simple beauties. Always will I admire this writer, simply one of the best
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forgoing the technical aspects of this piece ..... this beautifully describes the river at Westminster .... escpecially on a beautiful autumnal morning ......
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thispoem does have alliteration, but i think i may have found it, thanks
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I was wondering if anyone out there could tell me the alliteration in the poem, as i am studying it, thx Bhavesh
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I do believe this was a captivating poem. He was able to capture the essence of London in a way that most people probably did and still do take for granted. The personification is used a great deal to help provide us with an image of the city being alive as it co-encides with nature and somehow how strangely linked through God. I might also add this poem seems to be vaguely related to religion in that he directly makes reference to "Dear God..." Also, the use of the word "temples" in the sixth line is a word used most probable instead of churches to help the reader feel more united with God as well as link the city to God and Christianity. This religion was founded in the belief of God's son Jesus and formed after his death. Jesus was in fact a Jew (irony) and God's chosen people were Jews. Jews did not pray in churches but rather prayed in temples. Thus, the link is made. Very tranquil mood and if one has a deep connection with poetry, this poem probably has the ability to put one in a very relaxed and at ease state of being.
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i agree the personification is fabulous. Beautiful poetry.
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Well, I think that William Wordsworth has his own class…there is no comparison between W. Blake and Wordsworth…both have there own style…actually we people with our limited study and approach can’t determine the real class of any of those great poets…to me Wordsworth is an academy in himself…
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Wordsworth is one of my least liked major english poets. I personly believe he spent too much of his time smoking opiem with his friends. but yet he has a cirtain marvel, a curtain origionality and othenticness seldom found amoung poets. I have recently written an SA comparing the poem to 'London' by William Blake (my favorite major english poets) so in one manner i was quite biest on Blakes behalf. But yet i admire Wordsworth for his perspectives as the perfect world in which he boldly distinguished as the heaven on earth wich i believe he displayed a powerful image of as he believed that london was its own heaven. I must recomend william Blakes poetry if yet not read as he is an inspiring orthentic genius that brings revelutionary to poetry. thank you. any questions on my theory of great english poetry please do not heasetate to email me at: mad_getto_22@hotmail.com.
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The last line, I felt was the most powerful- he wrote beautifully here, the last line brings it into a dimension of the ‘present’ in which he was writing, as opposed to the past, which he has described- the continuation of the past. This was a very beautiful, yet universal poem- I liked the way in which he achieved this, making the poem very powerful. The dawn within this poem was very well described, as was his era- the ‘smokeless air’ recalling the beauty of the place, particularly within the Industrial Revolution in which time few places could be similar. This is a poem of pure beauty, from the very start it has a magical quality to it which inspired me to read more. The second line, still captivates- the reader is slightly tricked here, as s/he does not want to be thought dull, so reads on but at the same time wants to read on to find the universal beauty of this scene. The references to clothing, to me reveal how easy it is for the city to ‘strip off’ nature’s beauty- leaving nothing but the typical factory town, however within this scene this has not happened. This is a truly beautiful, deep and strong write- made stronger and more beautiful by the amazing power each individual word holds, as well as the way in which they fit together. I enjoyed the rhyming in this poem, since it added a dimension, I like the way it was ABBA ABBA CDCD CDCD, I don’t think I’ve read many poems with this rhyme scheme before- giving it a sense of classical uniqueness. I feel this is a classic, despite being two hundred years old it still holds a beauty today (which the city, unfortunately, does not).
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Excellent critique. When I first read it, having previously read many of Wordworth's Lakes poems, I felt that here is a man who can find beauty not only in the power and splendour of nature but also in my man-made, humble home town. I'd like to have met him.
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i want to complete explanation of Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
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ok
In the essay I will look at both the poems by Blake and Wordsworth and explain why it is that their opinions of London are so different but yet they were alive in London at the same time. Blake’s poem is a very negative poem as it describes London very negatively but on the other hand Wordworths poem is positive as it is describes the scenery and London very positively.
Firstly, William Wordsworths poem is about the scenery of London this is a very important point to make as the two different poets may have been looking at the different aspects of London. Wordsworth begins his poem by saying
“Earth has not anything to show more fair”, here he is saying that he believes that London is one of the best places in the world. Then the next line is “ Dull would he be of soul who could pass by” he is stating here if he would leave he would be dull in the soul and miss London. The third line he uses powerful poem techniques, he uses personification in the line “ This City now doth, like a garment, wear” here he is saying that the city is wearing a garment to emphasize the city is asleep. Then he describes what the city has such as “ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples” he describes them as being “ beauty of the morning”. He describes London as being like a country by stating that the city “Opening upon the fields, and to the sky” this gives the impression of a countryside as he then says “ All bright and glittering in the smokeless air” the final line that implies he looks at London as a countryside is “In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill”. He uses personification again by saying “the very houses seem asleep” this is personification and he uses this technique to explain that the houses and city are asleep. Another reason why
Blakes poem is negative, I believe that his opinion to London is negative compared to Wordswroth because Blake is living in London and he sees the the day to day happenings of London and he can see there is poverty, people getting mistreated. The first paragraph of Blakes poem is about him wondering through the streets, he’s looking at people “ and mark in every face I meet “. Then the next line states the “Marks of weakness, marks of woe” this implies that the people who he sees are in suffering. The second paragraph is describes who is suffering , “ In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear. In every voice, in every ban” as I mentioned earlier those are the people who have few rights and go along with the idea of paragraph one where the people are chartered and have no choice. In the quote he uses repletion, which emphasizes he wants to get a point across that there are many people. Then the quote “ The mind-forg’d manacles I hear” this is a interesting quote as manacles are chains and he states that the mind forg’d manacles, so he is saying the minds of the people are locked up and they have no free will. The quote is also alliteration as mind manacles, which may have been used to emphasize his anger.
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Jess McKay 1 day ago
amber angel Poet for 2 critiques. said:
When a poet speaks of universal ideas, ideas that any man can understand and relate to, fourteen lines of text can have the power to transcend nature and live forever. As I sat reading William Wordsworth’s Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, I found myself transported to a serene early 19th century London daybreak. Morning is the thread that will forever tie this poem to the hearts of readers. Through my own experience of how silent, still and beautiful the morning can be, I understand how Wordsworth felt when he sat to write this poem. Morning always was, and will forever be. Over the course of these fourteen lines, Wordsworth amplifies the beauteous power of nature and observes its effect on the architectural achievements of man.
From the start, with “Earth has not anything to show more fair” Wordsworth sets the reader up with an expectation of pure beauty. By personifying earth, the poet opens up a plethora of imagery and gives nature a sense of power beyond pure chance. The following two lines, “Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in it’s majesty”, seems to be a challenge to the reader. If one does not wish to be thought dull, he will continue reading the sonnet until he too understands the wonder of this moment. “This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare”. By saying the beauty of the morning is like a piece of clothing worn by the city, the poet suggests that throughout the day, a city is literally transformed by nature(as easily as one would change a jacket). The idea of a silent, bare beauty of morning goes against some of the more traditional values of elaborate and intricate man-made beauty and evokes a deep sense of peace. “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.” In this segment, Wordsworth makes a parallel between the man-made landscape of the city, and the vastness of the natural world. The city becomes a passive being, and submits to the will of its environment. In doing so, the architecture itself is amplified and becomes more beautiful and alive in the process.
The next section of the poem begins by dealing with nature’s affect on nature. “Never did sun more beautifully steep/ In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill”. These lines imply that the beauty of this particular sunrise is not wholly due to nature. It is the dance between nature and the sleeping city that makes this morning’s beauty extraordinary. Wordsworth exclaims: “Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!”. In this, one learns that the calm of this morning is taken in not merely by sight, but is felt throughout the entire being. Once again, the reader is reminded of the rhythm and pace of the natural world with “The river glideth at his own sweel will”. This is immediately contrasted with “Dear God! The very houses seem asleep”, suggesting that the city itself is a living being existing in the ever waking natural world. The poet drives this point home with the final line: “And all that mighty heart is lying still.”
One of the most striking features of this poem is its sense of breathlessness. The sounds of the words, in combination with careful placement of punctuation, would convey some sense of the poem to someone who doesn’t even understand a word of English. The words of this poem hold a strong enough collective energy, that even if randomly jumbled, one would have a pretty good idea of what the poem is about. The first line almost begs to be whispered. As the poem progresses, the reader is privy to Wordsworth’s thoughts as they come to him. He finds the sight “touching in its majesty”. The word “touching” suggests that the scene is actively participating with the viewer, rather than merely presenting itself. The first semi-colon of the poem, right before “silent, bare” leaves these two words to stand on their own- creating a barren silence before they are spoken. The antithesis of the “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples” with “the fields” and “the sky” creates a sense of dramatic tension between man and nature. The word choices of “bright” and “glittering” give the objects of the city a strong sense of life and motion as they exist in the pure, “smokeless air”. The fact that the air is smokeless gives one the sense that nature has flushed out the smoke of the previous day. The line “Never did sun more beautifully steep” brings the reader back to the beginning of the poem in that this beauty has outdone all that came before it. The rarity of this moment is one of the primary reasons it is so wondrous. The poet once again personifies nature by referring to the sun in “his first splendour”. The word splendour also adds to the magnificence and grandeur of the natural world. Simply reading the words “a calm so deep” soothes the reader and makes him feel at home in the world. The living river effortlessly “glideth” along at “his” own pace. The exclamation “Dear God!” seems to be the only fitting release of expression in reaction to such beauty. The last line of the poem, where Wordsworth refers to the city’s “mighty heart”, is a final, fitting homage to the depth of life within the confines of the city.
The rhyme scheme ties this poem together nicely. The first eight lines are in an ABBAABBA form, which creates three consecutive rhyming couplets flanked by two rhyming A lines. The last six lines are in CDCDCD form, which creates a nice sense of movement towards the end of the poem. This rhyme structure can also be found in Keats’ poems On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer and On Sitting Down To Read King Lear Once Again. It is interesting how in all of these poems, there is a shift in focus at the point where the rhyme structure changes.
Fourteen 200 year old lines with the power to make a man gasp. While science may never invent a time machine, poems such as this are close enough for me. Upon first reading, this poem and others like it may seem dry and outdated, but once the reader invests his time and heart into them the rewards are truly boundless.
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It\'s a good poem.
It's full of deep irony. He loves nature, but in this instance the city seems almost natural and made by God. Yet, he realizes after the river line that he knows in his heart that this is only a lie. -
a well writen and structured poem
hello all that have read this poem, I personally think it is such a sensitive poem and it bring a sensational feeling of calmness an peace. I hope to read more of of wordsworts work. -
a truly exemplary and flawless sonnet that envelopes the reader in its tranquility and simplicity
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We hav just done this poem as a part of my GCSE courswrk, it was my fav out of 8, i luv da way he manages 2 tlk of its beuty in the 1800's, my fav is wen he say "and all that mighty heart is lying still" it says soo much
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beautiful
such a calm and serene poem, composed with such lightness of body and might an yet carries with it such a powerful message . -
I am ambivalent about Wordsworth. He is one of my least favorite major English poet, and yet he has written some of my favorite poems. This is one of them. "We Are Seven" is the other. I love the rhythm here, think it's just masterful to read and appreciate.
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;
That is just perfect exquisite poetry. -
excellent
I liked it, it's nice to see the mundane being celebrated and the poet did a fantastic job at it. -
neutral
This peom is beautifully written. It has an optimistic tone to it as it explore the naturalness and beauty that can that can be derived from an ordinary city such as London. This can be seen in lines 3 and 4 where Wordsworth personifies how beautiful the city look at sunrise. Wordsworth creatively blends nature and harmony into the city, making this poem a true masterpiece.
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