Its occasion was a trip to France, made possible by a brief truce in the war. Wordsworth's conflicted feelings about this return to France, where he had once supported the Revolution and loved Annette Vallon inform a number of personal and political sonnets that he wrote in 1802 ("Note 1").
Wordsworth's journey from Westminster Bridge was to Calais (France) to see his former lover, Annette Vallon, and child, Caroline, in which he stayed a month (Noyes 126). According to Noyes, upon Wordsworth's return "to England, after 'the month's [stay] in Calais,' he saw England very differently now" (127). The view which he saw from Westminster Bridge was not in sight anymore: "the city [which was] a sight 'touching in its majesty' in which all objects, conditions, and moods conspire to bring Nature and humanity into 'an ennobling harmony'"- no longer existed (Noyes 127). His "return to the city" affords a "cry of anguish . . . [and] [h]e calls upon Milton as the supreme example of moral virtue who in the stagnant present could lift men once again to 'virtue, freedom, power'" (Noyes 127-28).
Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar sword, and pen (1-3)
In this poem, Wordsworth is the speaker whom is speaking to Milton. He is saying that England has become like a lowland ("Stagnant" OED). He refers not to the "stagnant waters" in a literal sense, but figuratively (3); it is more about England's spirit that he is referring to ("fen"), which means no activity, no excitement, unwholesome (OED). England and France were at a peace time during the French Revolution (Smith 73); however, for Wordsworth, this peace went a step further in his personal life. He was torn between his former lover, Annette Vallon, and child, Caroline, as well as a devotion for his country ("Footnote 1"); therefore, the England that he had once reflected upon had become "stagnant" (3).
He calls upon other things in the poem, such as: "Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, / Have forfeited their ancient English dower / Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; / Oh! raise us up, return to us again;" (4-7). In these lines, he refers to the home life, or one's household ("Fireside" OED). The temples, domes, etc., which he saw before had forfeited their inner spirit: this is the spirit and tranquility which he felt does not exist in this new view of England ("Composed upon Westminster Bridge . . ." 6). He cries out to Milton, who is his predecessor, to "raise us up, return to us again," because he does not feel that spirit anymore which made England an island nation for him (7).
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay (9-14)
These last lines of the fourteen line sonnet convey his glorification of a person, Milton, instead of the city as in "Composed upon Westminster Bridge. . .," as well as nature in "Tintern Abbey." Notice the pronouns: "thy," "thou," and "herself" (9-14). These refer specifically to his country, England. He looks to Milton for guidance because the England he knew is now dissimilar; it is "stagnant," or has no spirit (2-3).
According to J. C. Smith, "France, Napoleonic France, was the enemy, and England, with all her faults, the last hope of freedom" (73). Also, "in Wordsworth's hands, as in Milton's, the sonnet became a trumpet, to rouse England from her Mammon-worship and nerve her for the struggle against the tyrant" (Smith 73). I agree with Smith because, as I have stated previously, he felt torn over his love for England; for Wordsworth, England had lost its spirit, its vitality for life, whether for war, or, perhaps, peace. This was a time of personal struggle for Wordsworth, which led to the untranquil feeling that he got from this new view of England; thus my title, "Two Views of England."
Stay tuned for Part 2 of "London, 1802": A Contrasting View of England
“Fen.” OED. Online. 15 July 2011. Web.
“Fireside.” OED. Online. 15 July 2011. Web.
"Footnote 1." Wordsworth, William. "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. D: The Romantic Period. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, M.H. Abrams, Jack Stillinger, Deidre Shauna Lynch. New York: Norton, 2006. 317. Print.
Noyes, Russell. William Wordsworth. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1971. Print. Twayne’s English Authors Ser. Ed. Sylvia E. Bowman.
Smith, J. C. A Study of Wordsworth. London: Oliver and Boyd, 1946. Print.
“Stagnant.” OED. 16 July 2011. Web.
Wordsworth, William. “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. D: The Romantic Period. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, M. H. Abrams, Jack Stillinger, Deidre Shauna Lynch. New York: Norton, 2006. 317. Print.
Wordsworth, William. “London, 1802.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. D: The Romantic Period. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, M. H. Abrams, Jack Stillinger, Deidre Shauna Lynch. New York: Norton, 2006. 319. Print.
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