Plaque

Composed upon Westminster Bridge

Inscription

William Wordsworth, 1770 - 1850
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, 3 September 1802

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!

W. Somerset Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage (P654-5) contains a lovely description of daybreak seem from Westminster Bridge c.1898 which (surely knowingly?) pays homage to this poem.

Site: Composed upon Westminster Bridge (1 memorial)

SW1, Westminster Bridge

This plaque is on the north side of Westminster Bridge, on a pier closer to the west bank than the east. All the piers have these decorative lanterns and we believe they should all have an ornate panel below but a number have gone missing, as here.

When we visited in 2018 every available space on the lantern was graffitied or stickered, and dozens of mini padlocks were somehow attached. Much of this with the intention of advertising two people's love for one another, no doubt knowingly emulating the entangled "V" and "A", at the centre of the gilded quatrefoil on the lantern above.

2005: Londonist, as well as noticing a smutty shadow created by the balustrade, reported that this balustrade is a replacement; the original was put up for sale.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Composed upon Westminster Bridge

Subjects commemorated i

Westminster Bridge

Built 1739–50 by Swiss bridge engineer Charles Labelye. Until this was opened...

Read More

William Wordsworth

Romantic poet.  Born Cumberland, with the perfect name for a poet (see Isamba...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Victory in Europe Day - Woolwich 2

Victory in Europe Day - Woolwich 2

SE18, Thomas Street

Buddy Bear is on the right of the photograph and the plaques beneath the trees are from centre left to right: Victory in Europe Day 1, Vi...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Hippodrome - Harry Houdini

Hippodrome - Harry Houdini

WC2, Cranbourn Street, Hippodrome casino

The plaque refers to the London Daily Mirror newspaper which challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs. On 17 March 1904 durin...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Spanish and Portuguese Jews - 2

Spanish and Portuguese Jews - 2

E1, Mile End Road, 253, Albert Stern House

The Jewish calendar has a different start year (hence the "5425 - 1665") 3,760 years ahead of the more common, Gregorian, calendar.

3 subjects commemorated
Astley's first venue

Astley's first venue

SE1, Cornwall Road

Easter Monday in 1768 was 4 April. The plaque was erected by the Lambeth Estate Residents' Association.

2 subjects commemorated
Dickens at Cobley Farm

Dickens at Cobley Farm

N12, Queen's Avenue, 70

Returned from his first trip to America Dickens spent some time here in 1842-3, and wrote Martin Chuzzlewit, based partly on his time in ...

5 subjects commemorated

Previously viewed

Charles II statue - Soho Square

Charles II statue - Soho Square

W1, Soho Square

Erected in the King's lifetime - see Fenner Brockway for our list of other such statues. The statue once belonged to W. S. Gilbert and w...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Richard I statue

Richard I statue

SW1, Old Palace Yard

This bronze statue is considered Marochetti's finest. It was first exhibited outside the Crystal Palace in 1851 and then, by public deman...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Holmes & Watson - Criterion

Holmes & Watson - Criterion

W1, 224 Piccadilly, 224, Criterion Restaurant

The Criterion Restaurant is on the ground floor with the entrance at the left of our photo. The meeting at the Criterion took place on N...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators