Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

Question 1

Context:

Answer 1

• WW wrote this upon seeing a magnificent view from Westminster Bridge one morning, at the start of his journey to Calais.
• He was a Romantic poet and was influenced by the eternal beauty of the natural world, and resented industrialism.
• He used language that was accessible to all, especially to the proletariat classes so that they could enjoy his poetry.

Question 2

Main Ideas/Feelings:

Answer 2

• The poem depicts the speaker’s overflowing emotions of mesmerisation and awe at the view from the bridge.
• It celebrates the harmony between the city and nature, before the human world has woken up - the natural world enhances the city’s beauty.
• It suggests a sense of ephemerality and transcience in terms of time - although this view is splendid and majestic, it is only temporary.

Question 3

Personification:

Answer 3

• “This City now doth, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning”
• “The river glideth at his own sweet will”

Question 4

Syndetic Listing:

Answer 4

• “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples”
• “Splendour, valley, rock, or hill”

Question 5

Exclamations:

Answer 5

• “Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!”
• “Dear God!”
• And all that mighty heart is lying still!”

Question 6

Other Key Quotes:

Answer 6

• “Earth has not anything to show more fair”
• “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air”
• “Never did sun more beautifully steep”

Question 7

Form/Structure:

Answer 7

• Loosely follows Petrarchan sonnet form.
• Volta in penultimate line integrates features of Shakespearean sonnet.

Question 8

Meter:

Answer 8

• Loose iambic pentameter, perhaps reflects the speaker’s free, overflowing emotions of awe.
• “Dear God!” is a spondee, emphasising the speaker’s intense emotions.

Question 9

Rhyme Scheme:

Answer 9

Follows Petrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA CDCDCD, although many rhymes are subtle.