William Wordsworth - London, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Charter Member neoc1
N 51° 30.060 W 000° 07.357
30U E 699703 N 5709466
A plaque honoring William Wordsworth and his poem "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" is located under a lighting fixture next to the pedestrian walkway the north side of the Westminster Bridge, London.
Waymark Code: WMQW5N
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/04/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Marine Biologist
Views: 7

William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet whose poems launched the Romantic Age of English Literature. This was new kind of poetry that emphasized intuition over reason and the pastoral over the urban. This style was in sharp contrast to the prevailing style of the Enlightenment which stressed realism and reason. William Wordsworth was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

In 1802 he wrote the poem "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge". A bronze plaque on the bridge is inscribed:

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
1770 - 1850
-----
Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
5 September 1802

Earth has not anything to show 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 splendour, 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!

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