Sonnet: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge - William Wordsworth

Sonnet: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

William Wordsworth

Summary of the poem:

The poet stands on Westminster Bridge, at that time the bridge the only structure connecting the rich area of London and the poor area of London. On the left side we see the richer side of London, and the right side the poor side. Of course, there were less bridges then and things have changed. However the point is that he writes his poem based on his view, both of the rich and poor, showing unbiased attitude. The fact that he sees both gives the readers a sense of the poet being omniscient, as from that side, he sees all. He writes about the beauty of the city that he sees and the potential it has to be something greater than he can ever imagine. The poet likes to address a lot of reoccurring themes, possibly to make us contemplate more about the city later on after we have read the poem.

Significant poetic devices and their significance (eg: Metaphors, symbols, rhyme scheme, form, imagery, repetition… etc)

1.      Take note that of course this is not the usual Shakesperean sonnet that we are used to. His thoughts and feelings are displayed in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, or an Italian sonnet. Characteristics include:

1. A single 14 lined poem made up of an octave followed by a sestet.
2. Composed with the octave presenting an idea, problem or question, followed by a sestet finding the solution or resolution.
3. Metered, iambic pentameter.

                                                    i.     Perhaps in this case used to make the poem have a catchy rhythm to it.

4. Rhymed with 5 rhymes or less. The octave made up of envelope quatrains rhymed abbaabba is followed by a sestet made up of 2 tercets with a choice of envelope, chained or alternate rhyme. cdccdc or cdecde or cdcdcd.
5. Composed with a volta (non physical gap) or pivot (a shifting or tilting of the main line of thought) between the octave and the sestet. The epiphany (manifestation or realization) unravels slowly from octave to sestet.

There’s no more that I can say actually. Everything I want to say here has already been done for me.

2.     Paradox: “A sight so touching in its majesty” while the word ‘touching’ presents a more gently and intimate sense, majesty illustrates something more public and grand. Wordsworth captures the indescribable feeling of familiarity and distance.

3.     Initial rhyme scheme is repetitive and regular which gives a heartbeat/pulse to the poem like the heartbeat of the city. The consistency could also imply stead breathing as if the city is asleep. The break in the rhyme scheme quickens the pace as it is constant and shorter, as if the poet has fully recognised the true beauty of the city on closer inspection.

4.     Imagery: Gives a vivid sense of peace and emphasis the admiration of the poet. Words such as “beauty”, “bright and glittering” allows the reader to easily picture what Wordsworth experienced; the poet shares his awe and admiration of the sight which are essential to help him convey his message. “silent” and “bare”give a sense of tranquillity. The inactivity infers a lack of human life, with only the narrator. The individuality reinforces the beautiful sight.

Text-based Analysis

1.     The first two lines are literal, and say what they completely mean. However, in the third line, the poet starts to talk about his how the appearance of the city starts to look like royalty. “A sight so touching in its majesty”. The use of the word “majesty” exemplifies this. Furthermore this is a sign of personification as towns cannot be considered royalty as they are only used for humans. Therefore we are giving the town a human attribute. It is in this sense that he is trying to make the city itself look alive, as if we are the parts that are keeping it alive, like the organs of the human body. We are the organs of the city, if that makes any sense.

2.     “This City now doth like a garment wear” Notice that the word City is spelt with the first letter in higher case, as if a title.

a.     This indicates that the poet is trying to put the city higher than any other one that we might come across, as if thisis the best city there is.

b.     Alternatively it can be related to the previous line and that we are giving the city its name, which is just “City”. If this is so, we can say that the poet is just using personification. This is further justified when he uses yet another personification to describe the beauty of the city “like a garment wear”. Note that at the time the use of the word garment was used specifically for higher class people, once again illustrating the fact that the poet is trying to relate the city as a human entity. Not only that but he is trying to relate it to one as higher class, perhaps a noble, or even royalty.

3.     “The beauty of the morning; silent, bare”note the adjectives used. The use of the peculiar adjectives, “silent, bare” illustrate the fact that the city is beautiful in its most simplistic form. It doesn’t even have to be awake to show off its beauty. This gives the image of raw beauty that the city doesn’t even have to try and look its best to be considered beautiful. Think about the lion that you saw at the zoo. Think of it as asleep, similarly, the lion is beautiful even though it is “silent” and “bare”. Once again I say it – raw beauty. This contradicts on what the poet has said before about the city wearing a garment. You say that it doesn’t have to wear anything to be beautiful, yet you are saying that it dresses up, so that you can comment on it. It’s as if you see an actress on the red carpet wearing her best dress and getting her make up done by the best, and you say that she is ‘raw beauty’. Also, take note as well that at the time, “The beauty of the morning” was considered a classic romantic phrase. It is one of the only times in the poem that natural beauty is mentioned. The rest are usually man-made. This implies the fact that both nature and development has a key in the production of such a city, and it has to be beautiful as it was created by two amazing ‘people’.

4.     “Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie”. Although there isn’t a name for it, there should be one to describe this literary device, listing. Take note of the way that the poet is just listing out a couple of attributes that the city has. This could relate to the earlier lines of the paragraph and the features he is describing now is the “garment” of the city.

a.     The fact that he has listed so many of these features gives the impression that he wishes to go on but cannot, to upkeep the structure of the Italian sonnet. It also gives the image of the poet being emotionally engulfed at this point in time, as there are too many things that he is so passionate about and wishes to go on in detail about but can’t.

b.     Also note the lack of adjectives to describe the features. This gives the impression that the poet is trying to imply the fact that the word by itself is enough. There is nothing more needed to exemplify its beauty. This can be related once again to one the poet was talking about raw beauty. There isn’t anything more needed to make the feature look better than it is, it is already perfect. No “garments” needed.

c.      Note the “temple” bit described at the end. Temples are used for two reasons. One is that they are usually one of the most beautiful things that we see in the city it has to. It is the house of God after all. Secondly, the use of the word temple gives the image of the city itself being just and scared (something hard to find nowadays), inducing the reader to pour out even more respect for such a city. 

5.     “Open unto the fields, and to the sky”

a.     This gives a sense of freedom for the reader as fields usually refer to vast open spaces and the sky itself is infinite. This makes the reader feel ecstatic as we usually feel happy in open spaces to run and around, making it look as if we are the king of the world and that we can do anything we want. I can’t help but think of this meme whenever vastness is mentioned.

b.      Secondly it also addresses the unknown aura around it. We have never explored every bit of the sky (if that makes any sense) nor have we explored all the fields. This creates a sense of adventure, inspiring a very positive feeling in the reader, as if we are about to go on a journey into the wilderness (can’t help but think about Pokemon here)

6.     “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air” This is yet another part of the time that the poet talks about natural beauty. Once again this means that nature also has a part of the beauty of the city, making it easier for the reader to empathise with. We don’t know what the city itself looks like, but we do know what nature is like assuming that the climate is the same of course. However still we can view features of nature much more easily than cities, as there are much more variables involved. Therefore the fact that the natural aspect of the city is so amazing can reflect the beauty of the city as well.

7.     “Never did the sun more beautifully steep in his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill” Note the personification as we gave the sun a sex. This may indicate that the sun is alive, and as such we always think of it as happy we usually relate light and warmth with happy feelings as we are able to see our surroundings and can see things coming our way (at a biological level), giving a sense of security as well. It also ‘bathes the city in a good light’, creating the image that the city itself is a happy one, and that everyone is healthy, beautiful and cheerful giving the indication that the city described is a beautiful place to live in. Once again note the “valley, rock, or hill” that include listing once again, without any adjectives whatsoever. However, these are natural landforms, enforcing my other point about nature and humans working together to create a physical piece of art.

8.     “The river glideth at its own sweet will:” We can find personification. Based on the bridge he was standing on, we can safely assume that the river he was talking about was indeed the River Thames. The use of the personification here is to create the image of the river itself being happy as we find that it ahs the freedom of choice and the ability to do anything it wanted here, as if it also wanted to be part of the city, a city where we get to enjoy the freedom of choice.

9.     “Dear God! the very houses seemasleep; and all that mighty heart is lying still” The use of the phrase “Dear God!” is to exemplify that even the poet is still blown away by the beauty of the city despite already having described it for so long. It is here that the poet is trying to say that it is beautiful already when you look at it, but on closer inspection, it is much more beautiful than you already think it is.

a.     Once again we find personification when we say that the houses are asleep. This means that everyone is sleeping. Usually when we are awake we turn on the light, making it look as if the house has opened its eyes. Such is the structure of the typical house. Another form of personification is finally used in the city when we say “that mighty heart is lying still” this gives the indication that the poem is trying the express onto the readers that we have not seen its full beauty. Wait till it awakens. We can therefore assume that the writer wrote this in the wee hours of morning when everyone (the city) was still asleep.

This whole poem itself is a giant hyperbole.

Speaker of the poem: The poet himself, William Wordsworth

Speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the poem:Thankful to God for allowing him to see such a beautiful sight. In a way we can call him patriotic.

Paired poems (Identify poems in the anthology and why they are appropriate to be paired)

1.     Pied Beauty as he is also expressing his beauty for the world in general, while Wordsworth is talking about the city of London and he expresses its beauty.

2.     Pied Beauty as it allows us to see the contrast between nature and man-made structures, as Wordsworth mainly talks about man-made structures in a certain area only while the poet of Pied Beauty does the opposite. He talks about natural structures everywhere (well, his world, Europe. He couldn’t travel very far at the time)

3.     Summer Farm as the poet talks about the beauty of nature found in the farm. Similarly Wordsworth is talking about the beauty of both man-made structures and a bit of nature found in London, the country of description.

Memorable lines (that reinforce poetic devices)

1.     The city now doth like a garment wear

2.     A sight so touching in its majesty

3.     Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

4.     And all that mighty heart is lying still