Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

The poem we have chosen to feature this month is “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth

 

Canaletto "The Thames and the City of London from Richmond House" (1746)

 

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!

 

 

The beautiful image is a detail from “The Thames and the City of London from Richmond House” (1746) by Caneletto

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