Thursday, 30 June 2016

What is the significance of the title of William Wordsworth's poem "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"?

Wordsworth
generally wrote about nature, especially the nature around his home in the English Lake
District. What's significant about the title, therefore, is that it signals that this poem will
be about London, a major metropolis.

The words Westminster Bridge would tell
people to expect a poem about London the same way that titling a poem "The Golden Gate
Bridge" would indicate a San Francisco setting. Why, however, one might wonder, would a
nature poet compose verse about an urban area?

Wordsworth writes this poem to
communicate the way the city at dawn speaks to him. He finds a calm in watching it before it
wakes up and begins to bustle deeper than what he has ever experienced before. He is so moved by
the beauty and stillness of the this early morning scene that he wants to share with others that
the city, in certain moments, can speak to him as deeply as nature. The three exclamation points
emphasize how intensely moved he is:

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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