Blog Post #4 – Wordsworth’s Perspective of the City

*Note before reading: from this view, Wordsworth would not have been looking at Big Ben because it would not have been built for another 32 years*

Upon first reading William Wordsworth’s poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” you get an immediate idea of his love for the city of London. What caught my attention was the intriguing juxtaposition of both vague and specific perspectives that he includes in his writing. The first line of the poem references Earth as a whole, so that creates a wide spectrum of discussion. Then, as he goes on he mentions “This City,” meaning London, so that starts to narrow down the lens of his influence (Line 4). Nonetheless, the city is still very large, so it is hard to tell what he could be reveling in so deeply. He continues to write more about the city’s beauty in lines 6 and 7, Wordsworth writes: “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie open unto the fields, and to the sky.” These two lines are especially relevant to the juxtaposition, because while he does name particular places and things that are catching his eye, he names so many that it essentially becomes vague again.

I believe that this mindfulness of perspective is significant not just to Wordsworth, but also to the reader. This sense of perspective being so unclear allows the reader to wonder what Wordsworth is putting his focus of affection on, other than the city of London as a whole. While thinking on this concept, readers would then be prompted to wonder what their own personal focus would be of the beauty of London. Through this process, Wordsworth is causing his readers to view the city just the way he would, with love and admiration.

Even without the experience of the same view that Wordsworth would have been overlooking, readers get a unique angle into his relationship to the city and its characteristics. It also becomes a view that readers then yearn to experience after reading the poem, so it prompts them to visit London in person. Then they can truly decide for themselves what their favorite aspect of the city would be.

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/london-attraction/big-ben

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45514/composed-upon-westminster-bridge-september-3-1802