Question

Describe the beauty of London city as portrayed in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’.

Answer 1

According to Wordsworth, how does London look from Westminster Bridge?



Wordsworth is taken by London's beauty from his vantage point on Westminster Bridge. He describes it as "touching in its majesty," and says that its beauty is the equal of any vista in nature (high praise indeed, from a poet so infatuated with nature as Wordsworth.) He is struck by the city's skyline, the "ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples," that stand still and silent in the morning air, that is, for the time being, at least, "smokeless." It is the silence, the resting of what he calls a "mighty heart" that most affects