Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

“Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” was likely inspired by a passage in the journal of Wordsworth’s sister, Dorothy. In July of 1802, she and Wordsworth took a trip out of London to Calais in order to see Annette Vallon and Caroline, Wordsworth’s daughter. Dorothy wrote the following passage about the journey:

[W]e left London on Saturday morning at 1⁄2 past 5 or 6, the 31st July (I have forgot which) we mounted the Dover Coach at Charing Cross. It was a beautiful morning. The City, St Pauls, with the River & a multitude of little Boats, made a most beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not overhung by their cloud of smoke & they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly with such a pure light that there was even something like the purity of one of nature’s own grand Spectacles (Wordsworth, Dorothy. The Grasmere Journal, 31 July 1802).

In this very short poem, a Petrarchan sonnet, the speaker takes the reader through the experience of seeing such a sight and being moved by its beauty into a feeling of awe and spiritual transcendence. Using imagery, personification, and the modalities of the Petrarchan sonnet (see Literary Devices), the speaker elaborates on the experience Dorothy recorded in her diary, seeking to give the reader the same experience of arresting awe that she described and leading them to the same conclusion that she did in the quoted journal entry above.

Although the poem takes place in the city, the speaker of the poem subtly suggests that it is not the city itself, but rather the interplay of the city with nature that creates its “majesty,” (Line 3) as though the city is merely a reflecting pool off of which the sun can bounce its radiance. The speaker notes that the city is wearing “the beauty of the morning” (Line 5) and that all of the buildings “lie open to the field, and to the sky” (Line 6). Through this description, the speaker suggests that the city itself is like a person who is taking a moment to enjoy the experience of the morning light. The city, though it is man-made, has the same opportunity to connect with nature that the speaker himself does, and the personified city seems to openly enjoy that connection.

However, the way the speaker describes the scene reveals subtle hints that this moment of transcendent beauty is only temporary and will soon be disrupted by commercial activity and the hustle and bustle of the city. For example, when the speaker says the air is “smokeless” (Line 8), he also reminds the reader that during the day, the city will produce smoke which will obscure the view. He compares the morning to a kind of “garment” (Line 4) the city is now wearing. However, a garment can be changed, and it is likely that this beautiful garment which leaves everything “glittering” (Line 8) will eventually be replaced with another garment during the afternoon, presumably a smoky one brought on by all the factory work of a London that was industrializing quickly at the time.

The speaker later comments that the river (Thames) “glideth of its own sweet will” (Line 12), which suggests that later in the day this “will” may be harnessed for man’s use, as the river will be turned into a vehicle for more commerce. By calling the river’s will “sweet” (Line 12), the speaker suggests that it is the river’s will, emblematic of all of nature’s will, perhaps, that makes this morning and this moment so lovely. It elevates nature as an entity in its own right, with a personality of its own, and a spirit that touches the speaker now, making him feel the sweetness of the river’s free flow.

Although the poem suggests that later in the day the calm and tranquility of the moment may be broken, the speaker ends by resting his eye on the present-tense image of the city at peace, saying its “mighty heart is lying still” (Line 14). This final metaphor suggests that the city, though it is inactive now, retains the vitality and strength of one with a mighty heart, thus suggesting the dichotomy of the city. It combines two opposing forces, the active force that readers would normally associate with a city and the inactive force one only experiences in rare moments of quiet, such as during the night and into the sunrise of an urban environment. Wordsworth is suggesting that the calm he feels is magnified by the size and might of the heart at rest, as though the number of houses he sees asleep adds to his sense of tranquility.

It may be that the sheer number of tranquil objects he sees in front of him is the reason why he experiences “a calm so deep!” (Line 11) when viewing the city, as opposed to him viewing any sight in nature, which usually offers a more diffused landscape with fewer people in it. In other words, the amount of activity he imagines will light up the city during the day is proportionate to the amount of repose he feels in watching it sleep. The speaker may then be suggesting that he has found a heightened beauty in the city not because it is separate from nature, but because it magnifies the beautiful qualities of nature and condenses them in one place.