Part 1: Annotation – (10 marks)
Annotate the following poem for poetic devices. Ensure that notes regarding the impact on meaning,
sound or tone is noted, and any connections to Romantic ideals.
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
By William Wordsworth
Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
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!
Part 2 – Questions (10 marks)
Question 1: The river is said to glide at its “own sweet will,”. What type of poetic device is this and
how does it characterise the river? (3 marks)
The device is personification, which gives the river a sense of being sentient and in control of its path.
This characterises the river as choosing to flow through London as London has taken on some of the
benefits of nature.
Question 2: What does ‘This City now doth, like a garment, wear/The beauty of the morning; silent,
bare,’ mean? What device has been used here? (3 marks)
Clothing Imagery. The imagery notes that London has taken on the beauty of the morning
temporarily, like one wears clothes.
Question 3: How does the speaker feel about London in this moment? Give evidence to support your
answer. (4 marks)
The speaker is finding London as a place of peace and solace, something he usually finds in nature.
He notes that he is seeing ‘a sight so fair’ through London ‘like a garment, wear/ the beauty of the
morning’, being shrouded in the early morning sun. He notes that ‘Ships, towers, domes, theatres,
and temples lie/Open unto the fields’, to reveal that the business and industrial nature of London is
not yet operating, and as such, it has opened itself up to reflect the natural world. The reference to
‘never felt, a calm so deep’ tells us that the speaker is feeling at peace in the city, which is usually a
bustling metropolis.
Part 3 – Analytical Paragraph – (10 marks)
Analyse the poem, using your annotations and understanding of the poem to explain how the poem
reflects Wordsworth's belief in the restorative power of nature and the importance of moments of
harmony in urban settings. Explain how this is aligned with the ideals and concerns of the Romantic
movement.
William Wordsworth’s poem Westminster Bridge explores how the natural and industrial world can,
in certain circumstances, exist in harmony with each other, as his speaker revels in the early morning
light of London, one of the periods most industrial centres. His speaker, often attributed to be
himself, finds himself standing on Westminster Bridge in the early hours of the morning and is
enraptured by how the city is ‘bright and glittering in the smokeless air’, a stark contrast to the dank
and sinful way industrial centres are usually characterised by Romantic poets. Wordsworth himself
appears surprised at this observation, exclaiming ‘Dear God! the very houses seem asleep!’, the
caesura following the reference to God highlighting his amazement and ascribing the wonder to the
power of God. The repetition of exclamation points emphasises the restorative power this
observation is having on the speaker and thus aligns with Wordsworth’s belief in this Romantic ideal.
That the speaker rejoices in how the sun ‘never… more beautifully steep/In his first splendour’; that
the sun’s rays have made London more beautiful than any other form the sun has shone on hints that
he is pleased with this event and thus acknowledges the harmony between the natural and industrial
world that can exist. As such, Westminster Bridge highlights the Romantic concerns of pantheism;
the power of nature to enrich the soul, and reveals that despite the assumption that Romantics see
no good within urban settings, when that setting is exposed to the power of nature, a sense of
harmony and peace can be achieved.
