Descriptive Answers | Upon Westminster Bridge | William Wordsworth

Questions: Write the substance of the poem  “Upon Westminster Bridge”.

Answer : In the poem “Upon Westminster Bridge” the poet William Wordsworth celebrates the beauty of the city of London. One fine morning, the poet was out in a coach. He was upon the Westminster Bridge. Downward the Themes was flowing by. The sun was up. The great city of London was bathed in the luminous lustre of the rising sun. Exquisite was the scene. The poet was deeply charmed. It seemed to him to be the loveliest sight. The city received the profuse blessings of the sun. Only those with no aesthetic sense, according to the poet, could pass by such a ravishing sight. The majestic sight stirred the mind of the poet. The city seemed to put on the beauty of the morning light. Everything in the city was silent and clearly visible. A deep calm prevailed all around. Ships were anchored. Towers, domes, playhouses and churches lost themselves in the very openness the distant horizon and the vast stretches of green fields. The city and the countryside merged and mingled with each other. The air was smokeless. It was carrying the sweet fragrance of silence and purity. The valley rock or hill shone bright in the early morning. But the city clad in the bright light of dawn surpassed them in every way. The poet felt a sweet sensation amidst the pervading calm. The river was flowing with a soft murmur. No bar was there on her way. Wonderstruck, the poet had had a feeling of childlike joy and rapture. Out of gratitude he prayed to God for His benign gift. The slumberous city appeared to him to be the heart of a mighty giant lulled to sleep. Sleep induced a sweet inaction to the busy city of London. This is a simple Italian sonnet that praises the beauty of nature which can transform a cityscape into a spectacle worthy of becoming a poem of timeless appeal.

Question : “Earth has nothing to show more fair:” — How does the poet in the rest of the poem establish the world ‘fair’ ?

Answer : Wordsworth, the poet of nature, makes an unusual statement about the beauty of the city of London. Wordsworth claims in the opening line of the poem that London appears the fairest of all Earth’s creation wearing the beauty of the morning like a garment.

The word ‘fair’ here suggests the most beautiful scene on Earth. The poet next goes on to establish the ‘fair’ things that makes him state the line. Wordsworth is impressed by the beauty of the city of London at dawn.

Clothed in the bright sunrays, the city lies calm and tranquil. The ships, towers, domes, theatres all reflect the morning’s glory. A valley, a rock or hill never gained such a magnificent look at dawn as the city of London on this particular day. The river Thames flows freely and houses seem asleep.

The poet can not but celebrate this ‘fair’ image of the city in the early hours of pristine silence. Beauty lies in the everything that the poet perceives. The mighty heart of the city is now at rest in the smokeless air. Even nature fails to rival the ‘fair’ city at this time of the day.

Question : How does the poet look upon the sun in ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’ ? What is so deep and why ?

Or, “Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!” — What prompts the poet to say so?

Answer :➣➣Standing upon the Westminster Bridge, Wordsworth witnesses the beauty of London in the morning. In the morning, the sky is free from smoke and dust. Therefore the sun is shining brightly and glorifies each and every object of the city. So, the poet says that the sun has never shone more beautifully on valleys, rocks and hills as it does this morning. But he actually means that the sun is at its best in beautifying nature on this day. Therefore the magnificent beauty appeals to the poet’s heart and he is spellbound by seeing the sun’s ‘first splendour’ brightening the city.

➣➣The silence is intensely deep because the whole city is now at rest . People are still in bed. There is no noise. The Themes flows on smoothly and quietly. It is the profound calm just before the beginning of a busy day.

Question : The poet uses words like ‘silent’ , ‘bare’, and ‘calm’ in order to describe London. How does this atmosphere give the city a special character ?

Answer : William Wordsworth is an ardent lover of solitude. To him poetry is the ‘powerful emotions recollected in tranquility’. His poetry betrays his profound love for Nature. Obviously he is eager to present the calm face of nature in his poems.

This sentiment is keenly felt in the present poem Upon Westminster Bridge. Here we have a graphic description of the city of London. The city is presented in the beauty of the morning Sun. Side by side it upholds a perfect picture of prevailing silence. Time and again the poet uses words like 'silent', 'bare', 'calm' and still to suggest the sweet silence the city is shrouded with.

Usually London remains noisy and busy in the day time. The river Thames flowing through its heart is heavily disturbed by the movements of the ships. The sky-kissing towers and domes establish their existence through clamour and clatter. Theatres and temples, streets and factories send deafening sounds of mad crowds. 

The day-time London is in hectic haste and hurry. It is the familiar picture of the mighty metropolis. A proud possession of human civilization! But here we have an unusual character of the city. The poet sees the city in its unbroken silence. The great edifices of the city seem to merge and mingle with the calm horizon. The river flows at ease. The air is bare, clean and smokeless. The indwellers are all lulled to a sweet slumber. Even the very houses appear asleep. 

The mighty roaring heart of London is lying still. The known London becomes unknown. In fact the early morning and the glorious sunshine combine to add a very special character to the city of London.

Question : How does the poet present London in the beauty of the morning?
Or
Question : Describe after Wordsworth, The city of London as given in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’ ?

Answer : The poet William Wordsworth gives an exquisite pen-picture of the city of London in the beauty of the morning. During his tour to France one early morning he views the great city from Westminster Bridge over the Thames. The city presents a matchless sight in the glittering light of the morning Sun. 

The city stands majestic with all its magnificent edifices. It seems to the poet that the brilliant beauty of the morning adorns and beautifies the city like a grand garment. 

The ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples seem to be one with the green fields and the blue expanse of the unending sky. 

In fact, the poet views the city not as separate entity but as an indivisible part of nature. As a lover of nature he has come across many a earthly object of beauty such as valley, rock or hill lit up with the splendour and glory of the rising Sun. But never ever they looked so radiant as the city of London he sights now.

Equally impressive is the all-pervading calm of the city. A profound calm prevails over the entire city of London. In the early morning the streets lie deserted. No traffics ply along the roads. Factories are yet to be operative. The air is free from smoke and dust. The city is still and motionless. 

Only is heard the soft murmur of the downward streams of the Thames. All the houses appear to be in deep slumber. The mighty city looks like a sleeping giant. In this way the poet presents the city of the morning calm. He looks upon the city not as a splendid specimen of human civilization. It is neither a place of sick hurry and confused clatter. 

With all its morning beauty and supreme silence the city of London fills the mind of the poet with joyous wonder.

Question : “A sight so touching in its majesty” — What is the sight referred to here ? What does the poet feel about the sight ? Who would be dull of soul and why ? 

Answer : ➣➣The sight of the city of London in the early morning is referred to here.

➣➣ The poet William Wordsworth feels that the sight is highly impressive in its splendour. No beauteous object on earth can rival it.

➣➣The poet is overwhelmed by the beauty of the city of London in the early hours of the morning. He is so charmed by its silent grandeur that he feels that a person who could pass by “a sight so touching in its majesty” and not be fascinated by it, would be dull of soul. In the opening line of the poem Wordsworth clearly establishes the fact that the city of London appears the fairest of all Earth’s creation wearing the beauty of the morning like a garment. According to the poet, the majestic sight of London will touch all hearts. But a person who is not moved by such a sight is sure to be dull because of a lack of aesthetic sense.

Question : “ Earth has not anything to show more fair” — What prompts the poet to say so ?

Answer : Wordsworth, the celebrated Romantic poet, is impressed by the beauty of the city of London in the early morning. The beauty of the city of London in the early morning unlike its busy picture, casts a deep impression upon the poet’s mind. 

Generally the weather of London is characterised by the presence of fog and cloud. But on this day the weather is sunny and fog free and everything glitters brightly in the smokeless air. So, the whole city appears to be quite different from the vibrant city of the day.

 It has impressed the poet so much that he thinks no scene in the world is as beautiful as it. The panoramic view of the city visible from the Westminster Bridge is so touching that the poet thinks so.

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