lines composed on westminster bridge

Lines composed Upon Westminster Bridge
1. The poem is in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet. A Sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of 14 iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. It is of two kinds:
a) Italian or Petrarchan - falls in two parts - Octave rhyming abba abba followed by a sestet rhyming cdecde or cdccdc. It was first imitated by England both in stanza form and subject – by Milton, Wordsworth, Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
b) English or Shakespearean – it has three quatrains and a concluding couplet: abab cdcd efef gg. Another known variant is the Spenserian sonnet where Spenser linked each quatrain to next by a continuing rhyme: abab bcbc cdcd ee.
The present sonnet is Petrarchan in form with rhyme scheme abba abba cdc dcd and expresses the poet’s deep emotion in simple diction.
2. The Prelude and Tintern Abbey set the impression that the poet wants to escape the noisy London and repose in the lap of nature. However, in sharp contrast, here, he describes the beauty of London city as it wears the garment of a calm smoke free, beautiful morning. The Octave portrays the splendor of early morning in London ‘silent’ and ‘bare’. The city is personified as wearing the garment exposing it to the sky and any soul that cannot be moved by such a sight has no aesthetic sense at all! The ships and towers lie bare ‘bright and glittering’ in the congestion and smoke free London. From the Westminster Bridge, in 1802, one could see clearly, the ships sailing in the river Thames, the tower of London and even the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Surprisingly, the poet finds it a tranquil sight to view London from such an angle, for nearly in all his poems, he has expressed the need to run away from the bustling city.
3. The sestet, then, focuses on the sun rise falling on the city which is more beautiful to it falling in places such as valleys, rocks or hills. The calm river Thames gliding at its own pace and the city’s heart, its people, its vitality and vivacity, lie still! Such a sight brings a sense of wonder and joy and the poet remembers that it is Nature which is divine and is bestowing such tranquility and beauty to the city, which, is the heart of London.