Form and Meaning of Wordsworth's "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802"

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, University of Trier, language: English, abstract: ¿Earth has not anything to show more fair¿. This line is the first of William Wordsworth¿s sonnet ¿Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802¿. As a romantic poet, Wordsworth usually praises nature and its beauty but this sonnet differs from his other poems. In this text, Wordsworth expresses strong feelings and emotions towards London in the 19th century. He describes London in the morning and surprisingly he is amazed by the beauty of the city itself. How far in detail this poem contrasts with other pieces by Wordsworth will be clarified in the main part. In order to understand the poem and its meaning, it is helpful to take a closer look at different levels of description. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the main linguistic features such as the vocabulary used by Wordsworth and also the discourse structure. Additionally, it is important to consider the significance of the context, the role of the reader as well as their expectations.