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READ THIS
The poet describes the beauty of the city of London at sunrise and his sense of awe when beholding so
much beauty.
The city, normally heavily polluted by the rising industrialism of the age, is today strangely free of the
smog.
It presents a spectacular scene: the ships, the buildings, the domed cathedrals, all shining in the early
morning sun in the strangely clear and clean air.
ABOUT THE POEM
"Westminster Bridge" is a sonnet written in the classic Italian or Petrarchan form.
It can be broken into an OCTAVE and a SESTET, with each line of verse having 10 syllables of iambic
pentameters. Its rhyme scheme is also classic Petrarchan:
abba cddc / efefef
Wordsworth was a revolutionary poet who threw aside the complicated poetry of the 17th century in favour
of a very simple style which would be easily understood. Note, for example, that there is nothing difficult
about his vocabulary.
The poet personifies the city, seeing it as an exquisite woman who is dressed in the shimmery beauty of
the early morning.
She is still asleep and silent, the curves of her body -- the domes of the cathedrals or "temples"
and theatres -- outlined through the filmy, misty material.
The city is portrayed as having a heart -- the principle of life -- which is beating very slowly in her
slumber. The sun too is personified, rising at dawn in absolute splendour.
The poet is caught up in a feeling of AWE or RAPTURE. He cannot believe it possible to witness anything
more beautiful than this. Anyone who could walk by without noticing it, he said, would have to be dead
in spirit.
Remember that the London of Wordsworth's day would have been a heavily polluted city. Smoke from
thousands of fires would have hung over the city like a black cloud and darkened the buildings with soot.
On this particular morning, however, the air is smokeless so that everything appears bright and glittering
in the light of the rising sun.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning.
- Explain the image used in these two lines. Indicate how the poet's choice of words throughout the
octave enhances this image. (4)
[Need help?]
In this poem, the city is being compared to a really beautiful woman, wearing her flimsy night-clothing
which reveals her exquisite, shapely figure. This shape of the city is revealed in its buildings, its temples,
towers, etc.
In the sestet, the city is alive with a heart that is beating very slowly at this early hour of the morning.
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- Why should the circumstances on this particular morning have been different from on any other
morning? (4)
[Need help?]
Usually London would have been a polluted city, with the black fog of smoke from the many fires.
On this morning, however, there is no pollution. The air is wonderfully clear. The poet is filled with awe
or amazement at the sight, never having seen so much beauty.
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The sestet examines the peace and tranquillity of the city and the river.
- What words in particular enhance the poet's perception? (4)
[Need help?]
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
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The very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
- Explain the image used in these two lines. (4)
[Need help?]
This is a continuation of the earlier image of the woman sleeping. The houses themselves are now
personified, and are sleeping. The city is again personified, having a heart which is beating very slowly
while at rest.
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A knowledge of Wordsworth's poetry leads one to conclude that the poet is probably a pantheist.
[Need help?]
Pantheism has been described as the belief that God is identifiable with the forces of nature and with
natural substances. It is the belief that the universe itself is a god.
This is very close to the Gaia belief that the Earth is a goddess, and all things on it -- rock, creatures and
vegetation -- are merely manifestations of this goddess.
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- How does your knowledge of Wordsworth being a pantheist alter the way in which you understand the
poet's portrayal of London on this particular morning? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet presents the city in a very regal way, as a queen. One could argue, however, that the city is more
than a queen but a manifestation of the Earth goddess.
Notice that the poet says "Earth has not anything to show more fair", a goddess manifesting herself
within the beauty of the city.
Wordsworth follows this with the statement, "Dull would he be of soul -- a possible reference to
the fact that the worshipper would need to be fairly insensitive not to notice this manifestation of the Earth
goddess.
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This sonnet can be said to portray a deeply spiritual experience.
- By examining the words and images used throughout this poem, how would you justify such a
claim? (4)
[Need help?]
One could argue this from the angle of pantheism, that the manifestation of the Earth Goddess is so
tangible on this most beautiful morning.
One could, however, avoid this interpretation by arguing that so much beauty is merely a profoundly
spiritual experience.
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What are the themes of the OCTAVE and the SESTET? (4)
[Need help?]
In the OCTAVE, the poet stresses the beauty of the morning, using the image of a beautiful woman dress
in the exquisite garments of the dawn.
In the SESTET, the poet stresses the tranquillity of the morning, using the image of the city being a person
still sound asleep.
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