Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

by William Wordsworth

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

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

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

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

威斯敏斯特橋上

威廉華茲華斯

楊德豫譯

大地再沒有比這兒更美的風貌：

若有誰，對如此壯麗動人的景物

竟無動于衷，那才是靈魂麻木：

瞧這座城市，像披上一領新袍，

披上了明艷的晨光;環顧周遭：

船舶，尖塔，劇院，教堂，華屋，

都寂然、坦然，向郊野、向天穹赤露，

在煙塵未染的大氣里粲然閃耀。

旭日金揮灑布于峽谷山陵，

也不比這片晨光更為奇麗;

我何嘗見過、感受過這深沉的寧靜!

河上徐流，由著自己的心意;

上帝呵!千門萬戶都沉睡未醒，

這整個宏大的心臟仍然在歇息!

Notes:

This poem is written in Petrarchan sonnet form by William Wordsworth describing London, viewed from one of the bridges over the Thames, in the early morning.This scheme divides the poem into two: the first eight lines (octave) and the next six (sestet). Between these two is a break called a volta which emphasises the traditional change in mood or subject between the octave and sestet. In the first eight, he describes early morning London in detail, and then goes on in the final six to compare the city in that moment to natural wonders. The rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA CDCDCD

The dominating theme in the poem is Nature. London is inserted in natural scenery. The author describes the beauty of the city as the towers, the cathedrals, the theatres and the temples. Wordsworth personifies the city along with the earth and the sun. This reiterates his conviction that the city, at this particular point of day, does not clash with nature but becomes a part of it.The poet describes the calm and the tranquillity of the city. There are neither sounds or noises, there is only silence.