Lines Composed Upon Westminster Abbey is a classic appraisal of the beauty of London by Wordsworth, but after reading Blake and interpreting Doré’s engravings, it is hard to read this poem separating Wordsworth’s perception from the others.
Wordsworth writes of the beauty, the captivating, the glittering, calming, effects that London has on those who pass by. Wordsworth’s beauty is in the silence of the streets, the sleeping homes, the glittering of the city from the sunlight, the cleanliness free from pollution, and the emptiness in the lack of people. Wordsworth sees the beauty of London as the beauty of the city itself. His imagery gives life to the city, to the sky, to the famous river, but all without referencing the people. Wordsworth claims that the city is what is beautiful and those who have a lively soul can appreciate it for what it is, but the way he does so takes away from those who live in it. Many believe that the people makes a city what it is, make it great, and are the heart of place, but Wordsworth seems to believe the opposite. He chooses to describe London’s beauty from afar, without the interaction of others.
When reading Lines Composed…, he first person narrative places the reader into the narrator’s shoes. The “I” becomes “me” to the reader and the perceptions and emotions of Wordsworth transfer onto the reader. He keeps the pleasant and raising tone within his upbeat iambic pentameter meter and his strict rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA DEDEDE (I believe that at the time this was written majest-ee was pronounced magist-i, which would make it rhyme with by, lie, etc., but I may be wrong). This meter and rhyme scheme are important in keeping the reader focused in on the praising tone rather than perceiving it as more mocking or sarcastic. In order to keep this strict meter, Wordsworth even goes as far as to contract never as “Ne’er” once to keep the syllable count from going above 5, where never is left alone in several other lines throughout.
I notice in the poem that every line starts with a capital letter and the line breaks mark both the end of the line structurally and sentence-like. There is no enjambment found in Wordsworth’s work. I see this as a way to appeal to a greater variety of readers. Enjambment for me is one of the most confusing poems to read even in modern times where I have had schooling and been exposed to it. I feel as if the tone, meter, and simple structure make for an easier and understandable read to the lower class. It is a means of setting the education level needed to understand this poem to a more basic level to unite the social classes. This is also done by his emotion writing rather than perfectly replicating an image. By this I mean Wordsworth was known for writing about the emotions, feelings, and individual experiences with a scene, rather than describing with such immense detail that one creates a universal image that is applicable across all readers. By Wordsworth praising the city, the home, of all of these social classes while also inspiring emotions such as love and appreciation, he unites all social classes through their love for a common place, leaving a lot of the imagery open to interpretation for each reader.
Through his use of imagery, Wordsworth seems to be presenting an image of London that appeals to tourists, to travelers, locals, and promotes London as the place to be. The poem draws attention towards the city and inspires the reader to seek that same breathtaking beauty and appreciation for London the way Wordsworth does. The reader can picture beauty in the city and picture the morning sun glittering off of ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples, but these specific sites and details are left open to the reader. Not everyone has the same ideals and definitions of beauty. Different classes, countries, cultures, and languages perceive beauty in contrasting ways. By listing beauty in kinds of places, he describes what is there, but lets the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks and the details of what that building should look like in its most beautiful form. This to me creates a more universal story that can appeal to a larger audience. The imagery of the river flowing unrushed, at its own pace is also used as a means of slowing down the reading of the poem. The emptiness, the calmness, the still hearts, and sleeping all have very calming effects as to set a slower, more appreciative pace for taking in both the poem and London.
I can’t help but picture my own experiences and appreciation for the beauty of London while standing on Tower Bridge and Westminster Bridge. It is a stunning city, not in the business and technology like New York, but in the cleanliness, beauty, and classy buildings. After seeing Doré’s sketches I can’t help but imagine what lies in the streets behind what Wordsworth and I have both seen (At vastly different times in London’s history of course). I have always viewed London from the same perspective Wordsworth has. I have walked through the markets, looked at the items without making eye contact with the sellers, I have looked at the city from a distance, from up above in the London Eye, and all that time what reality have I been ignorant to? Was Wordsworth also ignorant to the poverty stricken truth to life in those alleys or did he also see it and choose to ignore it? Wordsworth wrote this poem from the perspective of someone taking a step back to view the city. I believe it very well have been to remind himself of the beauty of London after constant reminders of poverty and homelessness overwhelmed him.
Each of these authors’ stories must be taken with a grain of salt. Each author is motivated to express different realities, different lesson, and different ideals that lead to exaggerations intended to manipulate the reader to see their perspectives. In the case of Lines Composed Upon Westminster Abbey by Wordsworth, his actions are intended to inspire love and admiration for London, England in his readers and he does so by writing a poem that can be equally appreciated and understood by all.
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