Wordsworth

winters day when Wordsworth was a child. Wordsworth wrote this poem in 1798, when he was 28 years old, looking back on his childhood

which was spent largely among mountains at Hawkshead where he was educated.

The sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge" is written mainly in the third person in the present tense and describes the

skyline of London from above the Thames and is set early in the morning. Wordsworth never lived in London and was not familiar with the

bustling city that he was passing through. The sonnet describes the tranquillity of the city before everyone wakes up and goes about their

usual daily routine. This poem is probably the more accurate of the two poems because Wordsworth could see the view whilst he was

composing the sonnet, whereas "The Prelude" was written looking back, so some memories could have been forgotten, exaggerated or

distorted in some way.

. . .
" Words such as "hissed" and "tinkled" are effective in this poem, as they resemble the sounds actually made. Today, even though children do still play

out sometimes, it is more common for them to be occupied by modern technology such as computer games.

The poem that had the most effect on me was the sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge" This is because it is easier to understand

and set out much more clearly. The extract from "The Prelude" is twenty four lines long and all the lines are also approximately the same length as

each other. " This is compared this to the human ability to wear a garment. The playing boys

are also compared to a hunt in an extended simile which continues for much of the extract. Onomatopoeia is also used by Wordsworth in

"The Prelude. , with a reference to

"majesty" in the previous line, which suggests royal garments, and the worshipping of the city, like royalty was then worshipped. The extract is part of a longer piece, therefore it is incomplete, whereas the sonnet is complete, giving a much fuller and

therefore clearer picture. Instead, a modern sonnet may be dedicated to The Millennium Dome, London Eye and

the

new offices and footbridge. The imagery in the sonnet is very effective and gives a good visual image of London in the morning in the

late 1700's. If he had been at the same

point at midday, then he may not have had the same opinions, as the city would have been much busier and not so peaceful.

"The Prelude" is more like a continuous piece of prose, telling a story, with no rhyming couplets or rhyming pattern.

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Approximate Word count = 1181
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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