William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

 
 
 

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

a 
 

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

b 
 

A sight so touching in its majesty:

b 
 

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

a 
 5

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

a 
 

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

b 
 

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

b 
 

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

a 
 

Never did sun more beautifully steep

c 
 10

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

d 
 

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

c 
 

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

d 
 

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

c 
 

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

d 
 
 

Found on Bartleby, http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww206.html

Remarks:

Wordsworth at his best: and the best thing about Wordsworth (who is not always the best of poets) is that reading him helps one learn the distinction between the great and the merely workmanlike.