Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

Wordsworth's sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 falls into the category of Momentary Poems. The poet is describing what he sees, thinks and feels on a specific day at a specific moment. Had September 3, 1802, been a dismal day of rain, fog or overcast skies, we would not have this lyric to enjoy. Fair weather is often an inspirational awakening to the muse of poetry.

Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy had traveled to London to take a ship to France, where Wordsworth's mistress Annette Vallon was living with the ten-year-old Caroline, whom Wordsworth had sired but had never seen. The coach taking him and his sister to the seaside dock paused on the Westminster Bridge that crosses the Thames. Looking back in the brilliant morning sunlight at the sleeping city of London, the poet composed his Petrarchan sonnet in a tone peaceful and serene.

The poet records his impressions of the scene at early dawn when no mechanized activity is going on and the air is clean and devoid of smoke. He is touched by the beauty and splendour of the city. Only those whose souls are dull would not be touched by the awe-inspiring scene; the greatness is majestic.

He presents a panorama of London. Here is a romantic who spends most of his time in the Lake Country, in fields of daffodils, exulting in an urban morning cityscape, unconcerned with the getting and spending that he decries elsewhere.

All objects natural or otherwise are now visible because of the glitter of the morning sun which spreads over the landscape. Never before has the poet witnessed such beauty which the splendour of the sun radiates over valley, rock or hills. Not only is the beauty enchanting, but also the peace and calm which the scene has on the mind of the poet: In such an atmosphere even the houses seem asleep and all is still.

The second quatrain generalizes about the skyline shapes without detailing them. The poet has personified London through his use of the simile "like a garment" and the verb "wear." The catalog of man-made structures includes "Ships, towers, domes, theaters, and temples." Paradox intrudes as the garment worn by the city is bright and glittering sunshine that does not conceal, clothe, or protect but emphasizes bare beauty.

The next personifications are of the sun and the river. The verb "steep" in the opening of the sestet can support a variety of definitions including cleansing, softening, bleaching, bathing, imbuing. The personified morning sun performs these actions on "valley, rock, or hill."

The magic performed by the sun on the City, while the Thames "glideth at his own sweet will," induces in the poet a feeling of calm, as though the personified houses were peacefully asleep, and the mighty, throbbing heart of the metropolis is wrapped in stillness.

In the scene there is no activity. The air is smokeless because the truckers have not started to pour their emissions into the atmosphere. The poet is deeply impressed and stunned at the calm and beauty of the morning. His exclamation, “Dear God!” tells us that his response has reached spiritual and divine dimension.

"Dull would [they] be of soul" who do not feel the power and excitement of this lyric.

Another Review

"Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" is an Italian sonnet, written in iambic pentameter with ten syllables per line. The rhyme scheme of the poem is abbaabbacdcdcd. The poem was actually written about an experience that took place on July 31, 1802 during a trip to France with Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy Wordsworth.

The poem begins with a rather shocking statement, especially for a Romantic poet: "Earth has not anything to show more fair." This statement is surprising because Wordsworth is not speaking of nature, but of the city. He goes on to list the beautiful man-made entities therein, such as "Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples." In fact, nature's influence isn't described until the 7th line, when the speaker relates that the city is "open to the fields, and to the sky." While the city itself may not be a part of nature, it is certainly not in conflict with nature. This becomes even more clear in the next line, when the reader learns that the air is "smokeless" (free from pollution).

Wordsworth continues to surprise his reader by saying that the sun has never shone more beautifully, even on natural things. He then personifies the scene, giving life to the sun, the river, the houses, and finally to the whole city, which has a symbolic heart. The reader imagines that the city's heart beats rapidly during the day, while everything and everyone in it is bustling about, but now, in the early morning hours, the city's heart is "lying still." By using personification in his poem, Wordsworth brings a kind of spirit to the city, which is usually seen as a simple construction of rock and metal.

Another Review

Type of Work

"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" is a lyric poem in the form of a sonnet. In English, there are two types of sonnets, the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean, both with fourteen lines. Wordsworth's poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, developed by the Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374), a Roman Catholic priest. A Petrarchan sonnet consists of an eight-line stanza (octave) and a six-line stanza (sestet). The first stanza presents a theme or problem, and the second stanza develops the theme or suggests a solution to the problem. 

Composition and Publication

William Wordsworth completed the poem between July 31 and September 3, 1802. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme published the work in 1807 in Poems in Two Volumes, a collection of Wordworth's poems. 

Setting

The setting is London as seen from Westminster Bridge, which connects the south bank of the Thames River with Westminster on the north bank. Westminster, called an inner borough, is now part of London. 

Inspiration

Wordsworth's inspiration for the poem was the view he beheld from Westminster Bridge on the morning of July 31, 1802, when most of the residents were still in bed and the factories had not yet stoked their fires and polluted the air with smoke. He and his sister, Dorothy, were crossing the bridge in a coach taking them to a boat for a trip across the English Channel to France. In her diary, Dorothy wrote:

We mounted the Dover Coach at Charing Cross. It was a beautiful morning. The City, St. Paul's, with the River and a Multitude of little boats, made a most beautiful sight.... The houses were not overhung with their cloud of smoke and they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly with such pure light that there was even something like a purity of Nature's own grand spectacles.

Theme: Seeing the City in a New Light

London during the workday was rude and dirty. A walk across a bridge or through streets and alleyways confronted the pedestrian with smoke, dust, grimy urchins, clacking carts, ringing hammers, barking dogs, jostling shoppers, smelly fish, rotting fruit. But at dawn on a cloudless morning, when London was still asleep and the fires of factories had yet to be stoked, the city joined with nature to present the early riser a tableau of glistening waters, majestic towers, unpeopled boats on the River Thames--bobbing and swaying--and the glory of empty, silent streets. The message here is that even an ugly, quacking duckling can become a lovely, soundless swan.

Rhyme Scheme and Meter

The rhyme scheme of "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" and other Petrarchan sonnets is as follows: (1) first stanza (octave): abba, abba; (2) second stanza (sestet): cd, cd, cd
The meter of the poem is iambic pentameter, with ten syllables (five iambic feet) per line. (An iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.) The first two lines of the poem demonstrate the metric pattern:

.......1......      . ..2.........  ....3................4..................5
Earth HAS..|..not AN..|..y THING..|..to SHOW..|..more FAIR:
........1.......      . ..2.........  ....3.................4.................5
Dull WOULD..|..he BE..|..of SOUL | who COULD..|..pass BY

..

Summary The first eight lines present a view of the city as it wears the sunlit morning like a garment and its edifices glitter beneath the sky. The last six lines then boldly declare that this man-made "formation" is just as beautiful in the sunlight as any natural formation, such as a valley or hill. Moreover, it is just as calming to the observer, for even the houses seem to sleep, like the people in them.

Imagery

The most striking figure of speech in the poem is personification. It dresses the city in a garment and gives it a heart, makes the sun "in his first splendour" a benefactor, and bestows on the river a will of its own.  Examples of other figures of speech in the poem are as follows:

Line 2, alliteration: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
Line 3, alliteration: A sight so touching in its majesty
Lines 4, 5 simile: This City now doth like a garment wear / The beauty of the morning: silent bare (comparison of beauty to a garment)
Line 13: metaphor: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; (comparison of houses to a creature that sleeps)

Answer these questions

1. What is the theme of the poem?

2. Where and when is the experience taking place?

3. What is the mood of the poet?

4. Select the figure of speech in the first five lines of the poem.

With what does the poet compare the city?

5. Why is the air smokeless?

6. Select lines which show that there is an absence of noise in the scene.

7. What does the poet mean by “the very houses seem asleep”?

8. From the poet’s impressions of the scene, what can you tell of his

character?

9. Do you like the poem? Give reasons to support your answer.

West Indies, U.S.A.

West Indies, U.S.A. by Stewart Brown

The Poet

BROWN, STEWART

Born 1951 in Southampton, Stewart Brown is a poet, editor and critic. He studied art and literature at Falmouth School of Art, the University of Sussex and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He spent periods teaching in schools and universities in Jamaica, Nigeria, Wales and Barbados. Since 1988 he has taught in The Centre of West African Studies at the University of Birmingham, where he is now Reader in African and Caribbean literatures. He has travelled widely through West Africa and the Caribbean in relation to both his research and creative writing, and lectured for the British Council in both regions. As a poet he received a Gregory Award in 1976 and has subsequently published four collections of poetry.In the 70s he had several one–man–shows of paintings in Jamaica and the UK, and he continues to make visual images. He has edited or co-edited several anthologies of African and Caribbean writing and critical studies of the West Indian poets Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite and Martin Carter.

In this poem, the poet records his impressions of the Islands from a view, thirty thousand feet above. He sees some of the islands as more prominent than others. Some are more culturally and economically developed as can be seen in his impression of Puerto Rico, with “silver linings in the clouds” and the glitter of San Juan. But to him, each country has its own distinctive features and characteristics, which are highlighted at its terminal.

Against these islands, the poet sees the influence of the United States on Puerto Rico: he sees Puerto Rico as a representation of the United States - “America’s backyard”. Stringent laws are enforced at its terminal to prevent passengers from entering without legal documentation. The fear of foreigners who sneak into the island and tarnish the image of the land is well noted by the poet. He notes the influence of American culture and lifestyle in Puerto Rico. The glitter of the cities pulsating with life is well captured in the “polished Cadillac’s” and “Micro chips”.

Answer these Questions

1. What is the theme of the poem?

2. (a) Select the simile in the first two lines of the poem.

(b) Explain why the poet makes the comparison,

(c) Do you find it interesting and original? Why?

3. What is the distinctive feature of each of the following terminals?

(a) Port au Prince (b) Piarco (c) Vere Bird

4. Why are all passengers other than those embarking at San Juan, required

to stay on the plane?

5. What do you think is “that vaunted sanctuary”?

Why is it considered a vaunted sanctuary?

6. Select three pieces of evidence which show America’s influence on the

lifestyle of Puerto Rico.

7. What do you think is the mood of the poem?

8. What is the tone of the poet?

To an Athlete Dying Young

To An Athlete Dying Young               

Type of Work

"To an Athlete Dying Young" is a lyric poem.  Because it praises an athlete who died young, the poem may be further classifed as an elegy.

Setting

The poem is set in a town and cemetery in nineteenth-century England during the funeral and burial of a young athlete, a runner. 

Characters

Athlete: Running champion who died at the the peak of his athletic ability after becoming a champion. 
Narrator (Speaker): The poet, Housman, who assumes the persona of a resident of the town in which the athlete lived.
Townspeople: Neighbors and admirers of the athlete. They carried him on their shoulders after he won a race. 

Theme

Glory is fleeting. The only way a person can capture it and make it last is to die young after achieving greatness. In this way, the person can live forever in the minds of people who remember him at the the peak of his powers. Although Housman does not wish his readers to take this message literally, the undercurrent of cynicism in the poem suggests that life in later years is humdrum and wearisome. Consequently, he praises the young athlete for dying before his glory fades: “Smart lad, to slip betimes away / From fields  where glory does not stay. . . .”  

In the last century, the early deaths of baseball player Lou Gehrig (age 37), aviator Amelia Earhart (39), actor James Dean (24), actress Marilyn Monroe (36), female athlete Babe Didrickson Zaharias (42), U.S. President John F. Kennedy (46), civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (39), singer Elvis Presley (42), singer John Lennon (40), singer Janis Joplin (27), and Princess Diana of Great Britain (36) all seem testify to the validity of Housman’s thesis. By taking away their lives when they were still relatively young, death gave them eternal life in the minds of their admirers.

Commentary

Housman’s cynical view of life may have a certain perverse appeal for young people disenchanted with life. These are the youths who sometimes act on their “death wishes” by taking dangerous risks in fast cars, by experimenting with drugs, or by committing acts of violence that end in suicide. Housman himself was troubled as a youth as a result of his shyness and the fact that his mother died when he was only twelve. At Oxford University, he was a brilliant student but failed his final examinations, and he ended up accepting a humdrum job as a civil servant. 

Obviously, “To an Athlete Dying Young” is a thought-provoking poem of considerable merit. It makes the reader think about life and its meaning, and its beautiful imagery and rhyme scheme please the eye and the ear. And, though Housman is right when says people tend to remember public figures of great promise who die young, he neglects to mention that people also remember important men and women who lived well beyond middle age, including Sophocles, the greatest playwright of antiquity, who was 91 when he died; Augustus Caesar, the emperor of ancient Rome during its Golden Age, who was 77 when he died; Michelangelo Buonarroti, the extraordinary Renaissance artist and sculptor, who was nearing 89 when he died; Victoria, queen of the British Empire at the height of its power in the nineteenth century, who was 81 when she died; Pablo Picasso, perhaps the most influential artist of the twentieth century, who was 91 when he died; Albert Einstein, developer of the revolutionary Special and General Theories of Relativity, who was 76 when he died; and Mother Theresa of Calcutta, the Nobel Prize-winning nun famous for her work among the poor, who was 87 when she died. And who will ever forget Mahatma Gandhi, the "father of modern India," who was 79 when he was assassinated, and Pope John Paul II, who helped topple Soviet communism and promoted ecumenism with Jews and other non-Catholics. He was a few months short of his 85th birthday when he died. 

Yes, dying an untimely and early death can earn headlines and television eulogies for the deceased person. But long-lasting fame depends more on compiling a record of accomplishments than on “going out in a blaze of glory.” 

Format: Rhyme and Stanzas

The poem has seven stanzas. Each stanza consists of two pairs of end-rhyming lines, or couplets. 

Figures of Speech

Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem.

Alliteration

Line 1:....The time you won your town the race
Line 5:....road all runners
Line 8:....Townsman of a stiller town
Line 22:...fleet foot (line 22)

Apostrophe

Apostrophe is a figure speech in which the speaker of a poem, the writer of another literary work, or an actor in a play addresses an abstraction or a thing, present or absent; an absent entity or person; or a deceased person. In "To an Athlete Dying Young," the speaker addresses the deceased athlete. 

Metaphor

Line 8:...stiller town
................Comparison of a cemetery to a town

Line 10: fields where glory does not stay
................Comparison of glory to a person or thing that leaves the fields

Line 13: Eyes the shady night has shut
................Comparison of death to night

Line 19: Runners whom renown outran
................Comparison of renown to an athlete

Oxymoron

Line 14: silence sounds 

Simile

Line 12: It withers quicker than the rose
................Comparison of the endurance of a laurel, a symbol of glory and victory, to the endurance of a rose
................(Some similes use than instead of as or like.)

Synecdoche

Fleet foot on the sill of shade (foot represents the entire body)

 Another Person's Views

To an Athlete Dying Young, by A. E. Housman, gives the reader an alternate view of death. Rather than death in youth being a sad and mournful time, the speaker sees it as an escape from seeing your life's work forgotten and faded. 

The speaker of this poem takes the form of one of the deceased's friends. This can be seen from the line, "shoulder-high, we bring you home" (6) because in a funeral, it is custom for the deceased's closest friends to carry the casket. The speaker plays an ironic part in this poem, seeing life ended early as a great and lucky thing. The speaker views an early death as an escapefrom seeing his accomplishments forgotten and faded. The line "And early though the laurel grows/ It whithers quicker than the rose."(11-12) is a clear description of the speakers view. A laurel is an evergreen tree that is the emblem of victory, distinction, and accomplishments. Knowing this, it becomes obvious that the speaker is saying that accomplishments happen early in life and because of this, it is better to die in the glory of youth then to rest too long on one's laurels only to see them fade, beaten out, and forgotten. To the speaker, being forgotten is the worst thing that can happen to man saying, "Now you will not swell the rout/ Of lads that wore their honors out,/ Runners whom renown outran/ And the name died before the man." (17-20). The speaker is clearly envious of the deceased, and one gets the feeling that he is reflecting on his own life in this poem, on his accomplishments and how they were overshadowed by the accomplishments of others. The speaker wishes that he could have died in his prime so that he did not have to feel the pain of becoming another nameless forgotten blob in a sea of nameless blobs.

The rhyme and meter are also very important in this poem. The rhyme scheme is in AA BB format, producing a then and now feel. This is how it once was, and now this is how it is and how it will be. The meter is also important. Each line has eight syllables and when reading this poem, it seems to set a pace, much like the footsteps of a runner. This is important not only because the poem is about the life and death of a runner, but because it also shows the pace of life and life after death. It shows that life still goes on, and that life does not stop because of a death. In fact, life can erase any evidence of a deceased person's life.

There are two prominent literary devices used in this poem, personification and apostrophe. Personification can be seen in the lines "Eyes the shady night has shut" (13) and "After earth as stopped the ears" (16). Night cannot shut, and earth obviously cannot stop one's ears, it has no hands. Yet in this poem these two lines provide the reader with the feeling that death is a natural and peaceful bliss for this man, protecting him from seeing his glory fade and his fame forgotten. 

Apostrophe can be seen in the opening stanza "The time you won your town the race/ We chaired you through the market-place;/ Man and boy stood cheering by,/ And home we brought you shoulder-high." The speaker here is speaking to the runner as if he is still alive. By speaking in this manner throughout the poem, it feels as if he is reminiscing on the young man's life, and then reassuring him that dying young is better then dying after one's prime. This brings the reader into the poem, and makes them feel a connection to both the speaker and the young man.

Answer these Questions 

1. What is the theme of the poem?

2. What is the intention of the poet?

3. Find two expressions in stanza one (1) which indicate the

spectator’s response to the athlete’s victory.

4. What does the line “Townsman of a stiller town” suggest about the athlete?

5. Quote two expressions in stanza three (3) which show the poet’s view on

“glory and laurels”.

6. Why would “silence” and “cheers sound the same to the dying athlete?

7. Write T next to the statements that are true.

By dying young the athlete’s glory

a. died with him.

b. is unchallenged on the field.

c. does not gain wide acclaim.

d. is not worn down by time.

e. is suppressed by other runners.

8. The poem best exemplifies

a. reflections on the transience of fame and glory.

b. a tribute on the demise of a young successful athlete.

c. ovation on the victory of a young adult.

d. thoughts on life after death.

It is the Constant Image of Your Face

It is the Constant Image of Your Face

About the Author

Brutus

Dennis Brutus campaigned for freedom in apartheid South Africa and as was normal, he was persecuted by the apartheid government. He tried to flee from detention after being handed to the South African authorities by the Mozambiquan authorities and was shot in the back at close range. On partial healing, he was sent to the notorious Robben Island where he was kept in the cell next to Nelson Mandela’s. According to the apartheid code, he was considered a coloured person.

Dennis Vincent Brutus was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have apartheid South Africa banned from the Olympic Games. He lived between 28th November 1924 and 26th December 2009. He was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and had ancestry of mixed French, Italian and South African.

His activist life likens him to a crusader for his country. A knight on duty for a mistress; and this has so often appeared in his poetry. He loved South Africa deeply and did everything to win its freedom. In this poem, “It Is the Constant Image of Your Face”, he closes the first stanza by saying “my land takes precedence of all my loves”. This was his passion. While he was in prison, news broke that South Africa had been banned from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as he had campaigned for.

First Thoughts on the Poem

In this poem, the poet experiences a deep feeling of guilt and remorse.

The poet has framed an image of his beloved whose face is constantly before

him, while he is engrossed in a world of his own; a world in which thoughts are

like knives, hurling accusations at him. These accusations cut deeply into the

poet’s consciousness and remind him of his treachery to his native country.

Apparently, the poet has left his native home, having been captivated by the

beauty and assurances of his beloved. However, deep in his heart he knows

that no other love can lay claim to his loyalty but his homeland which is above all other loves.

Feelings of remorse and guilt plague the thoughts of the poet. To him, leaving

his country is like an act of treason and treachery. Although he prizes his

beloved, he pleads for forgiveness from his country whose tenderness matches

or surpasses that of the beloved.


Second Thoughts on the Poem

This poem is a typical Dennis Brutus poem. As is characteristic, he compares his love for South Africa, to the love he has for some other person. Maybe, a woman!

He opens the poem by saying ‘the constant image’ (line 1) of his woman’s face and the ‘grave attention’ (line 3) of her eyes which survey him amid his ‘world of knives’ (line 4), accuse him perennially. This is all coming to him as a memory because in line 2, he makes the allusion to a period gone when his love was knelt before him with the frame of her face in his hands. His ‘world of knives’ can mean so many things at once. It could mean that Brutus was surrounded by apartheid South Africa with its numerous brutalities. It could also mean that he was conflicted inside him, in a way that struck him like many knives piercing at once. Again, he could be talking about the conflict between his two loves as the poem tells us as we read on. And we are yet to know what she accuses him for, but Brutus doesn’t make us wonder long. She accuses him of heart’s-treachery (line 6). No, not even accuses but convicts! He has accepted that he has been treacherous to his woman, going on to probably share his love with another. But he does not apologise for it. He tells her that none of the two of them can ‘plead excuses’ (line 7) for his seeming infidelity because apparently, he cannot stop his love for his land and she can also ‘claim no loyalty’ (line 8). I want to risk saying that he is saying that he’s not bound to be loyal to her because ‘my land takes precedence of all my loves’ (line 9). He loves his land more than all his other loves. His land is his woman’s rival.

The second stanza is an attempt to pacify the heart of his woman who has been brought to the saddening realisation that she cannot have her lover all to herself. He begs mitigation (line 10), meaning that he admits that he has done wrong but is ready to give reasons for it. He calls her lover an ‘accomplice of my heart’ (line 11). That is like saying that she is equally guilty of his betrayal of his greater love. The woman is so beautiful that she has blackmailed him with her beauty (line 12) and made him a backslidden lover when it comes to his land. He has given his heart to another one outside his precedent love. In fact, her love for him has been so sweet and protective that he finds no shame in confessing his denial of his country. He calls it a ‘still-fresh treason’ (line 15). But in this confused place, a world of knives, he pleads, hopes (line 16) that his dearest love (line 16), South Africa, will pardon him freely (line 17) and not blame his woman. He ends by revealing more of his confusion, saying that South Africa, his first love, is his woman’s ‘mistress (or your match)’ (line 18), not knowing which to say is more tender. He loves one, he loves the other. One was able to conspire with his heart and steal his affection from the other, and now he does not even know whether the two are matched or one is dearer to his heart.

The greater emotion here is Brutus’ guilt of diluting the apartheid struggle with other cares. His love of his land is shown here overwhelmingly. This poem is another beauty that has added a little more tonnage to my love for this most romantic of poets coming from Africa.

Answer these Questions

1. What do you think is the theme of the poem?

(a) The guilt and remorse of a poet

(b) Alienation from one’s own country

(c) The poet’s love and loyalty for his native country

2. Describe the mood which the poet experiences throughout the poem.

Give suitable quotations in support of your answer.

3. (a) Select one image in the poem.

(b) To which sense does it appeal?

(c) Explain its importance in the poem.

4. (a) What is the meaning of “my world of knives”?

(b) What effect does this world have on the poet?

5. Quote two expressions which show that the poet’s love for his country

surpasses all other loves.

6. What qualities of the poet’s character are revealed in the poem?