Today in History - William Wordsworth

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

by William Wordsworth

(sonnet) p. 118

Earth hath not anything to shew more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth like a garment wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendor valley, rock, or hill;

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!

The original publication placed the date as 3 September 1803.  Later editions admitted it was actually inspired and composed on Saturday, 31 July 1802, when he and his sister Dorothy were traveling across the bridge together.  The poem describes the River Thames and London in the early morning, before the bustle of traffic and business began.

MLA Citation:

Wordsworth, William. Poems, in Two Volumes. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orms, Paternoster-Row, 1807. Print.