Anoush Keskerian
English 495ESM
17 September 2010
Wordsworth and the Romantic Era

The Romantic Era is essentially characterized by any “trend exalting nature above artifice, sensibility above intellect, the foreign above the familiar, energy above restraint, the search for an Absolute above concern with the here and now.” (Deutsch 151) This major social and cultural movement shaped much of Western artistic thought in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The Romantic Movement not only opposed the idea of controlled, rational order propounded during the Enlightenment, but more importantly emphasized the importance of spontaneous self-expression, emotion and personal experience in producing art. Much of the Romantic Period placed a heavy emphasis on the individual and his or her personal reflections and memories. Many poets during this period incorporated their experiences into their poems, and in doing so, allowed the reader to relate to some of these authors. William Wordsworth, one of the most profound English Romantic poets, truly helped epitomize this era through his undeniable Romantic poetry. His poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1802” is exemplary in embodying the characteristics that define Romanticism.

Before delving into the poem and its intricacies, it is imperative to first consider the structure of the poem itself. Composed of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” is in the form of the Petrarchan sonnet. The sonnet’s octave, comprising of eight lines, has the following rhyme scheme:

A B B A
A B B A;

whereas it’s sestet, comprised of the remaining six lines, has the following:

C D C D C D.

Prior to reading the poem, the reader may first make the assumption that the poem, as its title suggests, is composed upon Westminster Bridge. Wordsworth begins his poem by expressing that “Earth has not anything to show more fair” than the scenery he looks over. He uses such descriptive and vivid words to illustrate the scenery such as “touching in its majesty”, “beauty”, “silent, bare”, “bright and glittering”, “smokeless air”, “calm” and so on. As in the large majority of Romantic poetry, the dominating theme proves to be Nature. During a time when much of the world was experiencing the harsh social and economic conditions that accompanied the Industrial Revolution, a disengagement from human beings, nature and its surroundings was almost inevitable. Many authors during this period sought to remedy this disconnect from the natural world by expressing themselves through their writings and in doing so hoped to reach others who may have been affected by this detachment from nature. One can’t help but notice the irony in Wordsworth descriptions when he illustrates “the City” as having “smokeless air” and being “silent” and “bare”, especially when the effects of Industrial Revolution left areas in such deplorable environmental conditions.

From an emotional aspect, one may suggest that Wordsworth is so attached and in love with his City that regardless of its conditions, it will always be beautiful to him. Furthermore, Wordsworth attributes humanlike qualities to the City (personification) and describes the City as “like a garment, wearing the beauty of the morning.” He further goes on to say that the sun has never looked so beautiful, nor have the valleys, rocks or hills, which are being illuminated by the sun. Wordsworth describes the river, which “glideth at his own sweet will”. He expresses the City is so quiet and calm that even the “houses seem asleep.”

While a portion of the 19th saw the development of the Romantic Era, the larger part of it was essentially an Industrial period full of poverty, unemployment, poor working conditions and a depleting environment. During a time when technology and machinery dominated, detachment from nature was not all too unexpected. It is the works of authors like William Wordsworth, however, that mankind can revisit the natural world and the simple pleasures it has to offer. With his allusions to the beauty of nature and his vivid descriptions, as well as his emphasis on the emotions rather than logic, “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” truly embodies all that is Romanticism. Most importantly, with his “belief in the unity of man, in the spiritual development of man under the tutelage of nature, the harmony of society, the absence of… turmoil” (“On Wordsworth’s Westminster Bridge Sonnet”), Wordsworth truly helped steer the Romantic Era.

Works Cited

Deutsch, Babette. "Romantic." Poetry Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms. Fourth ed.

“On Wordsworth’s Westminster Bridge Sonnet”. The News Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Oct., 1955), p. 4