The version of the poem used to create this study guide appears in: Applebaum, Stanley, editor. English Romantic Poetry: An Anthology. Dover Publications, Inc., 1996.

Not that parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

“Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1802” is one of William Wordsworth’s most iconic sonnets. Written in 1802, as the poem’s title suggests, the work was originally published in Wordsworth’s collection Poems, in Two Volumes five years later in 1807. The work was inspired by an early morning during which the poet and his sister, Dorothy, set out for France, but were both overcome by the quiet beauty of London at dawn. As such, it is something of a departure from Wordsworth’s typical Romantic works, which emphasize the beauty of nature rather than civilization.

The poem begins with the speaker heralding the majesty of the city, claiming nothing else on earth could be more fair. They detail how silent the streets and buildings are in the morning and how the lack of urban activity gives them an unparalleled sense of clarity in the midst of the urban landscape. They go on to emphasize the calmness the scene invokes within them as the river glides listlessly below and even the houses themselves appear to sleep while the heart of the city lies still.