Composed upon Westminster Bridge Flashcards
Context
-Wordsworth was a Lake District poet
-Inspired by a journey through London, by Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy.
Form
-Petrarchan sonnet
-abba abba rhyme scheme gives it a flowing sense
Structure
-Highly-controlled giving the idea that London is perfect
-Use of punctuation limits how the reader can rush through it
‘Earth has not anything to show more fair’
-Hyperbole - establishes exaggerated feelings of awe and admiration from the beginning
‘A sight so touching in its majesty’
-Paradoxical - touching=intimate and personal, whereas majesty=grand, public, impersonal.
-Poet comes close to capturing the indescribable feeling of familiarity and distance all at once.
-Implies that London is a city of contrasts.
‘This City now doth, like a garment, wear/The beauty of the morning; silent, bare’
-Personification/imagery
-Garment/clothing can be changed so it is like saying the city is only beautiful in this moment and this particular light.
-‘bare’ is like saying the city is innocent in this moment, because it is not contaminated by smog from the industrial revolution.
‘Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples’
-List - overwhelmed by the beauty of everything
‘never did the sun more beautifully steep’
‘ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep’
-Lines are parallel - he claims that the effect of the morning light on London creates an unprecedented beauty–hyperbole.
- river glideth at HIS own sweet will
- …houses seem ASLEEP–>personified as a person who likes to take his time.
- …mighty heart is LYING STILL
-Personification
-The city is yet not contaminated.
Much of the charm early in the morning can be attributed to the fact that the people and therefore, (metaphorically) the city, is still asleep.
Themes
-Beauty
-How a location can be perceived
