William Wordsworth (1770-1850) belonged to the First generation of the Romantic Age. He is the major contribution in the field of Romantic movement in English Literature. He is mostly known for his famous work on “Lyrical Ballads”(1789) in collobaration with ST Coleridge. He has also written a famous literary piece of criticism which shapes the colour and essence of the Romantic school of poetry in his essay “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”(1800).
The Sonnet “Lines Composed Upon Westminster Bridge(1802) deviates away from the Romantic essence. The representation of London city in the morning dawn is an inspiration of the sonnet and one can consider the Romantic elements in the poem. It can assume some Romantic elements in the poem such as subjectivity, individualism, spontaneity , critique of industrialization and beauty.
Wordworth believed that the poetry is the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions recollected in tranquility”. The spontaneity is the result of his heavy inspiration of perception on the natural tranquil state of London city in the morning dawn. It led him to draw a beautiful scenery of calm state of city as seen in the movement of nature. These entire inspiration made Wordsworth to objectify its scenic beauty in parallel comparison to the landscape of nature.
The Romantics believed in the subjective experiences and emotions. The subjectivity is clearly portrayed in the sonnet which is the poet’s own personal experiences while passing the River Thames. The sonnert gives the poet own personal point of view to the beauty of London city at the morning dawn. He states that “Earth has not anything to show more fair” and critiques the passers who failed to notice the “sight so touching in its majesty”.
However, the notion of the Romantic individualism is one of the fundamental writings. Wordworth highlighted in his essay that “Poetry is just the image of man and nature” and he mirrors the self of an individual in the lap of the nature. Considering the sonnet , he gives the outer self of London city who “wear ” like a “garment” of “the beauty of tyhe morning” but the inner reflection of London city is miserable and dull due to the process of industrialization. In contrast to the representation of London city, he emphasizes on the self of an individual where the outer self appears bright and colorful but the inner self is filled with hidden sights and unknown perceptions.
The Romantics critique the industrialization . In the sonnet. he indirectly critiques the dullness of industries and appreciates the beauty of London city under the appearance of morning light. He states that the city is “silent, bare ,” and “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie/ Open unto the fields and to the sky” which are “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. The mention of “smokeless air” represents a beauty without the intervention of industrial fumes which hinders its beauty.
Lastly, the beauty is the basic element which all the Romantics appreciate. The sonnet reveals the appreciation of the morning dawn of London city where the “sun is personified to beauty that shines in “his first splendour, valley, rock , or hill” and the beauty of the tranquil state of “the river glideth at his own sweet will” shows the beauty of the morning landscape of London city.
