Monday, January 28, 2008

On Westminster Bridge

I have got to the bits in Ackroyd's Thames that cover the river's relationship to the arts (yes I know, reading slow, but it is rather rich).

Hence the Monet above and this bit of 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!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That first line is especially true when you see it around mile 24 of the marathon!

JP said...

I can imagine! Those knees (plus legs, feet, etc) must have been complaining more than a bit at that point.

Anonymous said...

(beautiful pairing of Monet's painting at the Wordsworth poem)