*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

In William Wordsworth’s poem “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” he describes a beautiful scene looking out onto the Westminster Bridge. His description is very specific to London, and would never be used to describe common American cities. Wordsworth starts off the poem by saying “Earth has not anything to show more fair”. The speaker describes London as being an incomparable place. London is like nothing else that Earth has to offer. Wordsworth uses the word “fair” in the first line of his poem, which is a word that has been seen in another one of his poems “She Dwealt among the Untrodden Ways: “—Fair as a star, when only one is shining in the sky”. I think that Wordsworth is using the word “fair” in the same way to describe London. However, the description he gives that really tells his audience how he views London is when Wordsworth writes: “Open unto the fields, and to the sky;/All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”. This along with describing London as “silent, bare” tells the audience that Wordsworth finds beauty in what is quiet, but open and free. When I think of the average, beautiful American city I tend to picture New York city: fast moving, lots of twinkling lights, cars throughout the streets, citizens on their way to work. However, Wordsworth wouldn’t find as much beauty in New York City as he would London. London is serene, clean, and free.

The last three lines of Wordsworth’s poem makes me excited to go to London and see the sight for myself: “The river glideth at his own sweet will/ Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;/ And all that mighty heart is lying still!”. Wordsworth promises a calmness from the sunset behind the Westminster Bridge that can only be felt when you are actually there. It gives me a sense of longing for something I haven’t even seen with my own eyes yet.

When thinking about the poem it makes me think of English culture. What does the average day look like for someone who lives in London? It also makes me wonder what the English think that American cities are like.

External Sources

“fair, adj. and n.1.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/67704. Accessed 17 May 2018.

Wordsworth, William. “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways.” Poetry Foundation, 2018.