![]() ![]() ‘What about those two siblings of yours you mentioned who lie dead in the churchyard? You can’t count them among your number, so you’re really five, not seven.’ As if to prove his point, he points out to her that she runs about the place and is clearly alive, but her unfortunate siblings in the churchyard are not. What should a young child know of death? Can they comprehend what it really means? How often have adults told small children who have lost someone dear to them, such as a family member, that that person has ‘gone away’, rather than presenting them with the cold, hard truth? This attitude of sweet innocence, where death is only partially grasped by the child, is central to ‘We Are Seven’.Īgain, Wordsworth shows little tact and drives home his line of questioning. It certainly gets our attention.īeyond this detail, the meaning of this opening stanza is fairly straightforward: in Romantic poetry, especially the poetry of Wordsworth, childhood is a time of innocence and good-natured ignorance. So he got rid of these words, altered ‘little’ to ‘simple’, and decided to open the poem with a shorter line. ![]() However, Wordsworth went off the idea of addressing ‘Jem’ in the first line, on the basis that ‘Jem’ was, in Wordsworth’s word, a ‘ludicrous’ rhyme for ‘limb’. ‘Jem’ was a nod to James Tobin, a friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge who was known as ‘Jem’. GradeSaver, 17 November 2007 Web.Wordsworth originally wrote, at Coleridge’s suggestion, the opening line, ‘A little child, dear brother Jem’, with ‘Jem’ chiming with ‘limb’. "Wordsworth’s Poetical Works “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” Summary and Analysis". Next Section "I wandered lonely as a cloud" Summary and Analysis Previous Section "A slumber did my spirit seal" Summary and Analysis Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Cantor, Rebecca. The reader imagines that the city's heart beats rapidly during the day, while everything and everyone in it is bustling about, but now, in the early morning hours, the city's heart is "lying still." By using personification in his poem, Wordsworth brings a kind of spirit to the city, which is usually seen as a simple construction of rock and metal. He then personifies the scene, giving life to the sun, the river, the houses, and finally to the whole city, which has a symbolic heart. Wordsworth continues to surprise his reader by saying that the sun has never shone more beautifully, even on natural things. This becomes even more clear in the next line, when the reader learns that the air is "smokeless" (free from pollution). He goes on to list the beautiful man-made entities therein, such as "Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples." In fact, nature's influence isn't described until the 7th line, when the speaker relates that the city is "open to the fields, and to the sky." While the city itself may not be a part of nature, it is certainly not in conflict with nature. The poem begins with a rather shocking statement, especially for a Romantic poet: "Earth has not anything to show more fair." This statement is surprising because Wordsworth is not speaking of nature, but of the city. The poem was actually written about an experience that took place on Jduring a trip to France with Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy Wordsworth. The rhyme scheme of the poem is abbaabbacdcdcd. "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" is an Italian sonnet, written in iambic pentameter with ten syllables per line. In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill Īnd all that mighty heart is lying still! The poem ends with an exclamation, saying that "the houses seem asleep" and the heart of the city is still. He goes on to describe the way that the river (which he personifies) glides along at the slow pace it chooses. In lines 9 through 14, the speaker tells the reader that the sun has never shone more beautifully, even on nature ("valley, rock, or hill"), and that he has never seen or felt such deep calm. Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lieĪll bright and glittering in the smokeless air. He then lists what he sees in the city and mentions that the city seems to have no pollution and lies "Open unto the fields, and to the sky."Įarth has not anything to show more fair:ĭull would he be of soul who could pass by ![]() The poem takes place in the "beauty of the morning," which lies like a blanket over the silent city. He begins by saying that there is nothing "more fair" on Earth than the sight he sees, and that anyone who could pass the spot without stopping to look has a "dull" soul. ![]() In lines 1 through 8, which together compose a single sentence, the speaker describes what he sees as he stands on Westminster Bridge looking out at the city. ![]()
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