Language and style

In what follows, we will address some of the issues connected to language and style in the poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth.

Playing with language

William Wordsworth does play with language in this poem. There are several words which gather several meanings and which add to forming a sort of wordplay throughout the poem.

Personification is one of the most important techniques when it comes to playing with language. London is compared to a woman, while the beauty of the morning is compared to a garment:

“The City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,” (ll. 4-5)

The image which is created is ambiguous. On the one hand, the word “bare” may suggest simplicity or modesty. On the other hand, it may also suggest something naked, undressed. The image of London becomes, thus, very sensual.

The sun is also personified; when he talks about the morning light offered by the sun, the poet chooses the adjective “his”:

“Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock or hill;” (ll. 9-10)

Through these personifications, the poem transforms. Initially, the reader can see it as a simple description of the beautiful city. However, because of the personifications, the poem can also be seen as a sort of love story between the sun (the masculine) and the city (the feminine).

The tense of the verbs

The poem is written in a combination of tenses, each of them being used with a particular purpose.

Present tense is used to express the beauty of the city in the moment when the poet notices it; it can also be used to suggest the fact that the beauty of London is eternal:

“Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in...