Posted by Zoe on August 18, 1997 at 21:47:42:
In reply to Blake posted by Amy on August 11, 1997 at 15:29:02
This is off the topic of JA's putative dislike of London, but here is a poetic vision of the city to counter Blake's. It's interesting that the JA, Blake, and Wordsworth overlap so many years.
Upon Westminster Bridge
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!
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