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William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
COMPOSED UPON WESTMIN-
STER BRIDGE, SEPT. 3, 1802
Written on the roof of a coach, on my way
to France.
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 above poem can found in:
Wordsworth, William. The Complete Poetical Works of Wordsworth.
Cambridge, MA: The Riverside Press, 1932.
Construction of the original Westminster Bridge in London was begun in 1739 and completed in 1750.
Construction of the current bridge began in 1854 and was completed in 1862.
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