English Yuvakbharati 11th Standard
Maharashtra State Board
SECTION 2: Poetry
ENGLISH YUVAKBHARATI 11TH STD MAHA STATE BOARD CHAPTERWISE
2.4 Upon Westminster Bridge
Appreciation of the Poem:
About poem, poet, and tile:
· Upon Westminster Bridge is written by the great nature poet William Wordsworth. Westminster Bridge is located in London city over the River Thames. Poet is standing on the Westminster Bridge at dawn time (early in the morning) and looking at the beautiful scenery of the London city in the early morning. In this poem, the poet expresses his inner feelings and thoughts about the scenery of the London city upon the Westminster Bridge in the early morning.
The theme:
· The theme of the poem is a nature theme. It is about the early morning scenery of London city, the poet is looking from the Westminster Bridge. Poet feels enthralled by seeing such morning beauty of London city. The scenery shows even if the industrial revolution, still London city looks so beautiful by surrounding in smokeless air early in the morning.
Language and poetic devices:
· The language of the poem is very simple and lucid. The poem has rhyming words and a rhyming scheme. It is a Petrarchan sonnet that consists of fourteen lines with octave and sestet. The language of the poem is simple and short. It has only two stanzas, the first stanza consists of eight lines and the second stanza consists of six lines. In the poem, the poet has used several devices to express her inner feelings as well as poetic effects with Alliteration, Metaphor, Personification, Simile, Repetition, Hyperbole, Inversion, etc.
Message, Value, Morals:
· Upon Westminster Bridge is a Nature poem by great nature poet William Wordsworth. Poet wants to convince the reader to see the beauty in every object of nature. Find the beauty of nature at any time of the day. We should find pleasure in every aspect of nature that gives us. Feel enthralled by the essence of nature.
Your opinion:
· I am feeling very enthusiastic to see the beauty of the London city because the poet expressed fine and apt nature imagery of the London City. I like the poem very much and started to see the essence of nature in every object that comes in front of me.
Questions & Answers
Q.) The garment is compared with…….
Ans. The garment in the poem is compared with the beautiful morning.
Q.) The morning looks beautiful because…………
Ans. It is still silent without any noise of people around and moving vehicles and without any smoke which looks absolutely stunning. The poet has personified the beautiful morning as if it wearing beautiful garments and ornaments.
Q.) Guess the meaning of ‘glideth’.
Ans. Here in the poem the word means, to swim’.
Q.) Guess what is referred to as the ‘mighty heart’.
Ans. William Wordsworth wrote this poem to show the beauty of the city of London, especially in the morning, so the word ‘mighty heart’ refers to the people of London.
Q.) Choose the correct alternative for the given lines. Focus on the inference of the poet.
(a) ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair:’ The line means-
(1) The poet thinks that the place was not so good.
(2) The poet thinks that there is another place which is more beautiful than this.
(3) The poet thinks that there is no place on the earth which is as beautiful as this one.
Ans. The poet thinks that there is no place on the earth which is as beautiful as this one.
(b) ‘Dull would he be of soul who could pass by’. The line means-
(1) One can walk over the bridge and ignore the surrounding beauty.
(2) One can halt at the place to enjoy the beauty.
(3) Anyone with an appreciative mind would not be able to ignore the beauty.
Ans. Anyone with an appreciative mind would not be able to ignore the beauty.
ii.) ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair.’ This line expresses the poet’s feelings. The sight he saw from the bridge is beautiful. There are a few more lines similar to the above. With the help of your partner find them and discuss what they express.
Ans. “Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:”
· Poet feels that the sight he gets standing at the Westminster Bridge is so breath-taking that no one will be able to ignore it.
“This city now doth, like a garment, wear.”
· This line beautifully personifies the city as a beautiful lady who is busy in make- over and is changing her attire, with the passing day.
“All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
· Poet here feels that the morning looks more beautiful because it is devoid of any pollution from the fast pacing vehicles and people rushing to their works. The city is silent and glittering because it is looking fresh and without any pollution.
“Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm, so deep!”
· The poet is spell-bounded seeing the beauty of the city in the early morning. It was very calm and serene, which was very relaxing for him.
iii.) The poem creates a delightful picture of the city, rich in its natural beauty. Work in pairs, groups and pick out the lines from the poem which give the pictorial effect to the poem. Write it in your own words.
Ans. The lines from the poem which give the pictorial effect to the poem-
1) “A sight so touching in its majesty:”
The poet witnesses something beautiful, standing at the bridge which he feels is majestic.
2) “The beauty of the morning;
silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres,
and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky;”
William Wordsworth admires the beauty of the London’s morning, standing at the bridge and the things he sees like ships, towers, domes etc. all seems to be beautiful at this time of the day.
3) “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
In the morning, when there is no vehicles in the road, the air is pollution free, which makes it feel more beautiful, as if is glittering in the fresh, serene morning.
4) “The river glideth at his own sweet will:”
The beautiful river flows at its own pace, no one is interrupting its flow, which gives very easy on the eye.
A3.) Find out the words and phrases which describe the following. One is done for you.
Ans.
A4.) Read the line ‘The city now, doth, like a garment wear’. The poet imagines that the city is wearing a beautiful garment. Hence, the figure of speech is personification. Find out more examples of personification from the poem.
Ans. Some more examples of personification from the poem are-
1) “In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;”
2) “The river glideth at his own sweet will:”
ii.) ‘Dull would he be of soul who could pass by.’
This line of the poem can be rewritten as:
Ans. His soul would be dull.
‘He would be of dull soul.’ The figure of speech is known as ‘Inversion’.
Find out one more example of Inversion from the poem.
Ans. 1) “Never did sun more beautifully steep”
2) “Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm, so deep!”
iii.) This is a Petrarchan Sonnet. Complete the given table by giving examples from the poem.
Ans.
Compose a poem on an imaginary village. Try to maintain the rhyme scheme in the poem.
You may begin like this….
Ans. Settled on the bank of a river
Like a queen.
Is my beautiful village
Full of bushes green.
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