“Upon Westminster Bridge”

 

 Introduction

William Wordsworth, also known as one of the major poets of the English Romantic Movement in the 19th century, was born in 1770 and died in 1850. When he wrote ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’ in September 1802, London was the economical as well as political centre of England; for instance the Bank of England and England’s biggest port for overseas trade were situated in this city. In 1770, already 700000 citizen inhabited London and an upward tendency prevailed (950000 inhabitants in 1800)[1]. In comparison, other cities like Norwich had almost tiny populations (30000). London, however, set the tone for nearly everything – fashion, worn in London, was imitated in other provincial towns. The city became a metropolis and a place of consumption.[2]

But on the other hand, London’s big-city appearance had some unwelcome side effects. According to industrial production the city was covered by fog nearly everyday. Streets and other public places were noisy and dirty and a terrible smell, like in Paris at that time, must have filled the air. People there were always busy with themselves and in hectic pace – nobody had enough time to enjoy nature or something like that. According to this fact, many people neglected their religious belief and some of them might even have lost their belief in God. That might be the point Wordsworth had seen and thus he mentally digested it in his sonnet. He probably wanted to make people aware that there is something more than the big-city life which is connected with hard work for the lower classes and a life of decadence the upper classes enjoyed.

2. Analysis

The sonnet “Upon Westminster Bridge” was written in 1802. As typical for a sonnet, it consists of fourteen verses, which can be divided, in other words arranged, into four parts – there are three quatrains and one final couplet. The rhyme scheme is adapted to the form of the sonnet which leads to the rhyme pattern abba abba cdcdcd. The last striking point about the structure of the poem is the occurrence of many punctuation marks which slow down the speed of the sonnet while reading it. Therefore the reader has the possibility (is rather forced) to read and understand the poem in a closer sense and finally is able to enjoy it to the full.[3]

The first quatrain deals with the description of the appeal of beauty which can be recognized by looking around while standing on the bridge. The speaker of the poem declares the view as most impressive – the earth is not able to show people something fairer than the view from Westminster Bridge, so it is a kind of uniqueness which is shown here. This position is supported by the second verse which tells that anybody who is attracted by the view cannot evade, only if this person probably has a deaf character. In the next verse the speaker’s attraction cumulates – the sight is personified as a majesty which possibly is so heartfelt that it will touch everyone’s soul. The comparison made in the fourth verse is very interesting – the city wears the beauty of the morning like a garment. This fact implies that the beauty of the morning is something temporal in the city. A garment is a piece of cloth which can be worn but taken off as well. Consequently the beauty can only be regarded in the morning or rather the morning represents the beauty. When the day continues, the beauty vanishes, just because the life of the city begins. People go to work, factories start to produce their goods and cause a lot of smoke, in other words the arising pollution will darken the city’s appearance and charisma, too. The fifth, sixth and the seventh verse tell that the morning’s beauty is silent and bare; all buildings and ‘non-living’ things like ships and theatres can be watched without a blurred view – they are just visible. In general it is hardly possible to see any of them (caused by pollution etc., see above), especially when they are situated in some distance from the bridge, but the speaker of the poem (verse 8) describes them as “[…] bright and glittering in the smokeless air.” The next three verses deal with the charisma of the sun which starts to give the first beams of light to the landscape (valley, rock and hill) surrounding London. This kind of natural spectacle must have evoked deep emotions in the speaker of the poem who tells us that he neither saw something like that nor he experienced such a relaxed feeling connected with this sight – the whole trouble of business-like London was absent at this moment and nothing uneasy or stressful remained. The twelfth verse tells us that the river flows at its own will. In general the Thames would have been dammed up with the intention to use the water power for industries or something like that by the inhabitants of London. But in the morning the river is free, possesses its own will and is able to glide in every direction, at least so far this would be possible. The last but one verse refers to the already mentioned calmness. The speaker of the sonnet might be a little bit confused by the almost deathly silence and therefore he addresses to God. It can be regarded as a question to God when the speaker says that even the houses seem to have fallen asleep. It must have been unreal, in other words incomprehensible, to see that London, which was the biggest city on earth at this time, was lying still without a hint of movement. After having finished with a general view on the sonnet, a more detailed analysis concerning some crucial points will follow now.

 Analysis

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 is Wordsworth's delicately wrought dedication to the capital of England, the city of London.

From that grand opening line, with its showy declaration, to the steady iambic beat of the metropolitan heart, this sonnet aims to do one thing: romanticise what might be deemed ugly.

This is a whole new view of a great city before it has properly woken up. The speaker is adamant that a person would have to be dull...of soul not to be affected by such a vista, both moving and majestic.

  • The fourth line is interesting because it sets the reader and speaker in the absolute present; the reader is looking through the eyes of the artist as it were, as dawn lights up the architecture and the great river.

And the metropolis comes alive in the following line - it wears the morning, a calmed personified giant. Wordsworth brings in that most romantic of notions, beauty, and attaches it to what is potentially one of the least beautiful of places, a growing, heaving city.

But this is a city of dream-like quality, as yet unpeopled, set in fresh light, at rest, at ease with fields and sky, not yet subject to the smoke of the chimney stacks or the smog of industry.

The poet could be forgiven for thinking that this is not London he's looking at but some other natural habitat, perhaps a mountain or a series of lightly lit cliffs and rocks.

In lines 9 and 10 the feelings of the poet reach a kind of fever pitch, an echo of the opening line sounding - he has never seen anything like this dawn, this splendid sunlight.

He is clear in his heart and mind. He's never felt so calm. It's as if the city has him in a trance. Perhaps we've all experienced similar feelings when waking up really early in some great city, and venturing out to take in that special atmosphere, when there's no one around at all and the streets are deserted.

Wordsworth interprets these feelings he has about the overview from that bridge; he's trying to capture the emotion generated by the things he observes. From a ship to a dome, from the river to the houses, the whole suspended shabang.

As to the sonnet's inherent beauty, that is up to the reader, but there are some intricate rhythms involved in these lines, and the pace is controlled with clever syntax.

Certain lines stand out for their sense of wonder - lines 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 - and overall the word intimacy isn't lost to the differing rhythms.

One oddity is line 13 that starts with Dear God! - you can just picture Wordsworth on the carriage top exclaiming. He liked to use such phrases in some of his poetry, an attempt to reflect the more common human response.

So, in conclusion, beyond reality lies the romantic, be it a city turned into a natural phenomenon as in this sonnet, coated, some might say, in too sweet a layer of wonder.

Wordsworth's 'strongly felt emotions' come through loud and clear and he certainly created a timeless piece that beguiles, irritates and puzzles as it takes the reader along into a shared metropolitan experience

Questions:-

1.       What role dues the wind play in the poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"?

2.       What is the appropriateness of the figure of speech in line 1 of "Composed upon Westminster Bridge"?

3.       What is the "garment" the speakers refers to in "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"? Who is wearing it?

4.       What impression of London does the speaker create? How is this achieved?

5.       What does the poet want to suggest by describing the beauty of London in the poem "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"?

6.       What did William Wordsworth feel standing on Westminster Bridge early in the morning?

7.       Refering to "Composed upon Westminster Bridge," show why the speaker feels so awestruck and amazed at his first sight of London so early in the morning.

8.       How does William Wordsworth vividly portray the city of London close to nature in the sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802?"

9.       In "Composed upon Westminster Bridge September 3, 1802," what two passages present London as a living being?  What is the effect of this personification?

10.   Why does the poet use the words "calm," "bare," and "silent"?

11.   What does the time of day have to do with the type of scene depicted in the sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge" by Wordsworth? 

12.   Why is the air smokeless?

13.   What are the two images in the poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 " that compare the city to nature?

14.   What is the significance of the title of William Wordsworth's poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"?

15.   How does Wordsworth use personifications in the poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge"?

 

 

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