Poetry Definition: It is a composition in verse communicating the sense of complete experience. It is a literary form characterized by a strong sense of rhythm and meter and an emphasis on the interaction between sound and sense.
The Elements of a Poem: The definition of "elements of poetry" is "a set of instruments used to create a poem." Theme: This is what the poem is all about. It is the central idea that the poet wants to convey.
The Elements of a Poem: Style/ Technique: The style of a poem can be analyzed according to three levels: A-Phonological: This refers to the sound effect of a poem. Various devices could be used to give musicality to the poem. القافية: 1-Rhyme The repetition of sounds within different words, either end sound, middle (internal rhymes) or beginning. Rhyme example: loose goose. The patterns of rhyme are called rhyme schemes.
The Elements of a Poem: وزن meter /ايقاع 2-Rhythm They are the building blocks of poetry. Rhythm is the pattern of sound created by the varying length and emphasis given to different syllables. Meter is the rhythmic pattern created in a line of verse, the pattern of the beats. 3-Alliteration: Two or more words which have the same initial sound. The alliteration may be separated by prepositions. Alliteration example: Pretty princess. Busy as a bee.
The Elements of a Poem: 4- Consonance: The repetition of a sequence of consonants but with a change in the vowel. For example: Live Love 5- Onomatopoeia: A word whose sound seems to resemble the sound. For example: Hiss (of snakes), buzz (of bees).
B- Semantic: (Meaning) This includes the denotation and connotations of words and the figurative usage of language. Some Figures of Speech: Simile: A comparison using the words like or as My love is like a red rose. Metaphor: A method of comparison where the words like and as are not used. The use of metaphor compares two things that are not alike and finds something about them to make them alike. Life is a journey.
Figures of Speech: Symbols: Generally, it is an object representing another to give it an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant. Example: The dove is a symbol of peace. Pun: two words with same pronunciation but different meanings. Example: Son- Sun Right- Write Hear-Here Personification: This is a way of giving an inanimate object the qualities of a living thing. The sun smiled down on her. Apostrophe: A direct address either to an absent person or thing.
C- Syntax: (Grammar) 1-Tense of verbs: The Progressive: indicates an ongoing action The Present: indicates a fact The Imperative: implies urgency Modals: give different implications. May, can, for example indicate probability.
Poetic Forms: Certain traditional forms of poetry have a distinctive stanza (group of lines of verse) length combined with a distinctive meter or rhyme pattern. One of these forms is the sonnet. The Sonnet: A single-stanza lyric poem containing fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter. There are three predominant sonnet forms: Italian Sonnet: developed by the Italian poet Petrarch. It is divided into octave- 1 st 8 lines- with a rhyme scheme: ABBA ABBA or ABBA CDDC, and a sestet (last 6 lines) with the rhyme scheme: CDE CDE or CDCCDC.
The Sonnet: Shakespearean Sonnet or English Sonnet: It contains 3 quatrains and a final couplet. Rhyme scheme is: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Spenserian Sonnet: A variant that Edmund Spenser developed from the Shakespearean sonnet. Rhyme scheme is: ABAB BCBCCDCD EE
Romantic Poets
Romantic Poets The best known Romantic poets are William Blake, William Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Shelly, and John Keats. Much of the major writing of the period takes place between 1789( when the French revolution began) and 1824 (the death of Byron). The movement is seen as a response to changing political and social conditions in one respect or another. Romanticism has very little to do with things popularly thought of as romantic although love may occasionally be the subject of Romantic art. Rather, it is a movement that redefined the ways in which people in Western cultures thought about themselves and about their world. Romantic poets strove to capture man s relationship with nature.
John Keats (1795-1821)
John Keats (1795-1821) Born in London, the English Romantic poet John Keats was orphaned by the age of 14 and died when he was only 25. His poems became the cornerstone of the Romantic movement. Like all Romantics, he was a big fan of emotions. His poem, When I Have Fears reflects his desperate desire for love and success. It also shows his certainty that he will die before they come his way.
Summary/ Analysis He expresses his fear that he will be deprived of the three things that he values most: 1-writing poetry of varied ideas. 2-Experience the wonderful mystery of nature and gain experience from it. 3-Experience the magical power of passionate love. Each of the three quatrains in this Shakespearean sonnet deals with one of his fears. It is a standard sonnet written in iambic pentameter. (unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable)
Summary/Analysis The first quatrain focuses on the fear that early death will prevent the poet from realizing his dreams. His brain is teeming with subjects, ideas, and inspirations for his work, enough to fill the bookshelf above his desk. He needs time for the ripening and harvesting one s gifts.
Summary/Analysis Next, in the following quatrain, the poet looks at nature, the clouds and the stars as source of romantic inspiration. Death at a young age will prevent him from enjoying this and will kill the imagination, the essential resource of his writing life before it has had a chance to mature.
Summary and Analysis Then, in the third quatrain, he refers to his beloved and to the love that he will be deprived of. In the final couplet, there is a change of thought. Thus, the poem expresses 2 major thoughts. The first part of the sonnet expresses Keats fear of dying young with the result that he will not fulfill himself as a writer. Losing his beloved is his other fear. Then in the final couplet he resolves his fears by asserting the unimportance of love and fame.
When I Have Fears When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean d my teeming brain Before high-piled books, in charactery Hold like rich garners the full ripen d grain Vocabulary: Cease: Stop Glean d: Collect patiently
Vocabulary: Teeming: full of Charactery: words صومعة الغالل Garner: silos, storehouse for grains
Paraphrase: When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean d my teeming brain Before high-piled books, in charactery Hold like rich garners the full ripen d grain The poet feels that he will die before he has used his many great ideas in writing poetry, before he could write several books that are rich with his mature ideas.
Commentary: Harvest Metaphor: the central metaphor is the comparison between writing poetry and harvesting grain. The 1 st quatrain emphasizes how fertile his imagination is and how much he has to express. Hence the use of the imagery of the harvest. The poet identifies one of his fears for the reader. It s not merely death that worries him, but the fear that he may not achieve his full creative potential, his full ripened grain in the form of high piled books that he could write. Death will cut short his poetic career. Full ripened grain: ideas which need to be written down are like the grain to be harvested. The fruits of the poet s mind become ripen d
Harvest Metaphor: only as the poet ages and therefore his writings are mature in content. Thus, there will be no chance for harvesting them. These fruits which are his poetic works, grant the poet fame, and are represented by the high-piled books. The books are compared to garners which will hold all of his written work.
Figures of Speech: Teeming High-piled, Rich Glean d, grain, garners When, before The word suggests that the speaker is still full of life and ideas, which contrasts with his approaching death. Signify abundance. Alliteration, that creates rhythm and focuses the reader s attention on the harvest image. The repetition of these adverbs suggests the passing of time and shows that the poet is aware of his threatening death.
When I Have Fears When I behold upon the night s starr d face Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance Vocabulary: Behold: take notice, look at High romance: elevated narrative of chivalry
Paraphrase: When I behold upon the night s starr d face Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance The poet is gazing up at the sky. He finds in the clouds all of the symbols of high romance. He fears that he will die before he can be able to use in his poetry the material offered by nature. He will not get the chance to represent the beauty of nature in his medium, namely, poetry. He wont be able to use the power of imagination and emotion.
Figures of Speech: Night s starr d face: personification, night is personified as having a face.
When I Have Fears And when I feel, fair creature of an hour That I shall never look upon thee, more Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love; then on the shore Vocabulary: Thee: You Relish: enjoy Faery: old form of fairy
Paraphrase: And when I feel, fair creature of an hour That I shall never look upon thee, more Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love; then on the shore In the third quatrain, the poet talks about idealistic love. In addition to his fear of failing to achieve his poetic aspirations, the poet is also concerned with having ever experienced love; he is afraid he may never experience the magical power of love. He is also afraid he may never get another chance to see this potential beloved, who is also at the mercy of time as she is a creature of an hour. the quatrain reflects his hopelessness.
Figures of Speech: Fair creature of an hour faery Implies that she is mortal and that humans don t have much time to spend on this earth. Suggests the magical and inexplicable quality and power of love. Using an old fashioned word suggests, too, that love is timeless.
When I Have Fears Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink Paraphrase: Finally, after reflecting upon his feelings, which the act of writing this sonnet has involved, Keats thinks about human insignificance compared to the whole world. He finally accepts the unimportance of his desire for fame and love and thus ceases to fear and yearn. He realizes that death turns everything into nothing. Therefore, his high hopes for fame and love are not worth such intense stress.
Figures of Speech Wide world Alliteration that creates rhythm and also suggests vastness of the world.
The Turn: A sonnet always has a turn : a point in the poem that signals a major reversal in the thoughts or desires that shaped the first lines of the poem. Usually the turn occurs around line 8 or 9. Keats starts his turn in line 12. he has spent much time thinking about fame and love. The first section develops a single concept: his desire for love and success and his certainty that death will cut those desires short. Then the poem turns. The 2 nd section reverses these thoughts, taking the poem to a new direction. Now, his focus is wider; it is on the wide world. The last lines reject all of his desires as futile.
Theme of the poem: The theme is human mortality, which is one of the famous themes of the Romantics. Keats is afraid of death at a very young age, but his fear is justified. He lost his father at the age of 8. a year later, his grandfather died. In his early teens, his mother died. Exposed to so much death at a young age, keats realized the transience of life. The sonnet gives expression to his personal fear of his own early death which would doom to oblivion his human longings and artistic ambition.
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is regarded as the father of English Romanticism. He is often referred to as the poet of nature as most of his verse deals with natural description, and a call to go back to nature in order to feel the presence of the spirit of God. In the summer of 1802, William Wordsworth traveled with his sister, Dorothy, to Calais, France. They stopped in London and when they left, it was early on the morning of July 31 st. They crossed over the famous Westminster Bridge to get out of town. Wordsworth apparently wrote the sonnet while sitting on top of his coach. Maybe he was so awed by the city because he didn't live there: he spent much of his time in one of the most picturesque natural landscapes in England, Lake District. The poem is remembered not as a biographical record, but as a beautiful depiction of London in the morning.
Composed upon Westminster Bridge
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 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!
vocabulary words Fair Dull Majesty Glittering Splendor Glideth Mighty meanings Beautiful Stupid or not lively in spirit Supreme greatness Sparkling Great brightness Move smoothly without effort Of great size or great in importance
Composed Upon Westminster Bridge Summary in lines 1 through 8, which together compose a single sentence, the speaker describes what he sees as he stands on Westminster Bridge looking out at the city. He begins by saying that there is nothing "more fair" on Earth than the sight he sees, and that anyone who could pass the spot without stopping to look has a "dull" soul. The poem takes place in the "beauty of the morning," which lies like a blanket over the silent city. He then lists what he sees in the city and mentions that the city seems to have no pollution and lies "Open unto the fields, and to the sky."
Summary: In lines 9 through 14, the speaker tells the reader that the sun has never shone more beautifully on valleys, rocks, or hills. He goes on to describe the way that the river glides along at the slow pace it chooses. The poem ends with an exclamation, saying that the houses, or its inhabitants, seem asleep and the heart of the city is still.
Paraphrase 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. The sonnet opens with hyperbole. The earth has no other sight as beautiful as the one the poet is seeing at the present. He believes that anyone who could see the sight he is witnessing and pass by without being stunned by its beauty has a dull spirit. The City has a majestic and royal touch when it is wearing the beautiful garment of the morning. The poet then moves on from describing the beauty and silence of the morning to a list of buildings that usually abound with activity and movement and which are open into the fields and the sky. The whole city shines so bright in the unpolluted morning air.
Paraphrase Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendor, 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! The sestet opens with a sense of disbelief and exaggeration when he says that he has never seen the sun rise more beautifully. When it appears and shines brightly, it lights up the hills, rocks, and valleys-elements of the natural landscape. The river is also flowing peacefully. The whole sight brings him a sense of peace he has never experienced. He ends the sonnet by directly referring to the significance of the city which is the mighty heart.
Analysis Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" is an Italian sonnet, written in iambic pentameter with ten syllables per line. The rhyme scheme of the poem is abba abba cd cd cd. The rhyme scheme is repetitive and regular which gives a heart beat pulse to the poem like that of the city. the octave presents a view of the city as it wears the sunlit morning like a garment. The sestet declares that this man-made formation is as beautiful in the sunlight as any natural formation such as valleys and hills.
Summary/ Analysis The sestet opens with a sense of disbelief and exaggeration when he says that he has never seen the sun rise more beautifully. When it appears and shines brightly, it lights up the hills, rocks, and valleyselements of the natural landscape. The river is also flowing peacefully. The whole sight brings him a sense of peace he has never experienced. He ends the sonnet by directly referring to the significance of the city which is the mighty heart.
Analysis The poem begins with a rather shocking statement, especially for a Romantic poet: "Earth has not anything to show more fair." This statement is surprising because Wordsworth is not speaking of nature, but of the city. He goes on to list the beautiful man-made entities therein, such as "Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples." In fact, nature's influence isn't described until the 7th line, when the speaker says that the city is "open to the fields, and to the sky. Nature and man-made structures compliment each other s beauty.
Analysis Wordsworth continues to surprise his reader by saying that the sun has never shone more beautifully, even on natural things. He then personifies the scene, giving life to the sun, the river, the houses, and finally to the whole city, which has a symbolic heart. The reader imagines that the city's heart beats rapidly during the day, while everything and everyone in it is bustling about, but now, in the early morning hours, the city's heart is "lying still. The busiest city in Wordsworth s world, London, sleeps and wears the beauty of the morning. By using personification in his poem, Wordsworth brings a kind of spirit to the city, which is usually seen as a simple construction of rock and metal.
Analysis The opening lines of the poem immediately states what the poet wants to say. This image he is confronted with, London is quiet and sleeping, is the most beautiful he can recall. He challenges the reader not to appreciate it by saying that only those without a lively soul could fail to be touched by this beautiful scene. The city is personified to seem like a person sleeping. The poet seems to enjoy the contrast between how London usually appears during daytime and how it appears in the early morning, which is strikingly calming and beautiful because of the unexpectedness.
Imagery & figures of Speech: The most striking figure of speech is personification which is used in several places in the poem with reference to the city, sun, river, and houses. The poet creates the impression that nature is a living being with soul. This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; The beauty of the morning is compared to a dress or a garment in a simile. Only people wear clothes, so London is personified. This also explains the use of the capital letter in City. So, he creates an image of a beautiful woman made more beautiful by the perfect dress she is wearing.
Imagery & Figures of Speech The river glideth,at his own sweet will: The river is also personified as a person with a free will, moving quietly and smoothly. The image implies that the river is calm and there is no one to disturb its flow, which contributes to the serenity of the whole scene. Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; The houses are personified as sleeping people because the city is quiet and still. The huge city, London, which is always alive and noisy seems vacant and at peace.
Imagery & Figures of Speech And all that mighty heart is lying still! Personification of England with London as its heart, always pumping and moving to keep the whole world moving. Now, this heart is lying still because the city, like its people, is asleep.
Imagery and Figures of Speech Use of Hyperbole, or exaggeration. Earth has not anything to show more fair: Never did sun more beautifully steep The first line of the poem conveys the poet s exact feelings. It emphasizes his emotions and admiration regarding an urban cityscape. He is exaggerating the beauty of nature and claims that the effect of the morning light on London creates beauty that never been experienced before. Then, there is a parallel structure in the first line of the sestet. There is a hyperbolic comment about the sun never having been anywhere more beautiful. This shows that natural beauty combined with architectural, or man-made, beauty, is incomparable.
Imagery and Figures of Speech Use of Hyperbole, or exaggeration. Earth has not anything to show more fair: 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: He builds up the images of the city with ships, towers, & domes. He also uses the natural images of the field and the sky. Nature and man-made city are working in harmony to create this perfection. The city joined with nature to give the early riser a tableau of glistening water and buildings.
Imagery and Figures of Speech Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; Use of exclamation & apostrophe The poet addresses God directly. He is describing what he has seen, thought, and felt on a specific day, at a specific moment. Dear God!: expresses his wonder and surprise. He is struck by the beauty of the city and of nature. because it is so unexpected in the heart of the world s busiest city. He, therefore, cant hide his emotions. Though he has been describing the whole scene for so long, his feelings have not abated.
Imagery and Figures of Speech Never did sun more beautifully steep Ne er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! Use of anaphora. (the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses) The repetition of Never emphasizes his belief that this sight brings him a sense of peace and joy he has never experienced.
The Title: The poem s title is significant. It shows that the poem has been composed in the place it describes. So, the poem is an immediate record of an inspiration that belongs to a particular time and place. It reflects a particular, fleeting experience. The poem reflects Wordsworth s vision of London s serene beauty. The Message: the city is as beautiful as anything in nature.
Applications Discuss briefly Romanticism as a movement.
What is John Keats trying to express throughout this sonnet? The poet is reflecting upon all the things that he wants in life ; namely, success, fame, and love. Yet, he is sure that his life will come to and end before he can achieve his goals. The poem shows his desires and despair. In this sonnet, Keats expresses his fear that he might die before having a chance to experience the love of a woman or develop his talent as a poet.
Discuss the form and meter used by Keats in this sonnet? When I Have Fears is a Shakespearean sonnet. It is a standard sonnet written in iambic pentameter. (unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). It consists of three quatrain and a final rhyming couplet. Each of the three quatrain deals with one of his fears.
What are Keats s fears? How does he introduce them in his sonnet? He expresses his fear that he will be deprived of the three things that he values most: 1-writing poetry of varied ideas. 2-Experience the wonderful mystery of nature and gain experience from it. 3-Experience the magical power of passionate love. Each of the three quatrains in this Shakespearean sonnet deals with one of his fears.
How does Keats end his poem? The poet ends his poem with a change in his thoughts. The poem expresses 2 major thoughts. The first part of the sonnet expresses Keats fear of dying young with the result that he will not fulfill himself as a writer. Losing his beloved is his other fear. Then in the final couplet he resolves his fears by asserting the unimportance of love and fame.
What is the dominant figure of speech used in the first quatrain? the central metaphor is the comparison between writing poetry and harvesting grain. The 1 st quatrain emphasizes how fertile his imagination is and how much he has to express. Hence the use of the imagery of the harvest. The poet identifies one of his fears for the reader. It s not merely death that worries him, but the fear that he may not achieve his full creative potential, his full ripened grain in the form of high piled books that he could write. Death will cut short his poetic career. Full ripened grain: ideas which need to be written down are like the grain to be harvested. The fruits of the poet s mind become ripen d
Dominant figure of speech in the 1 st quatrain: only as the poet ages and therefore his writings are mature in content. Thus, there will be no chance for harvesting them. These fruits which are his poetic works, grant the poet fame, and are represented by the high-piled books. The books are compared to garners which will hold all of his written work.
What is the significance of using the following words? Teeming: The word suggests that the speaker is still full of life and ideas, which contrasts with his approaching death. High-piled, Rich Signify abundance Glean d, grain, garners Alliteration, that creates rhythm and focuses the reader s attention on the harvest image. When, before The repetition of these adverbs suggests the passing of time and shows that the poet is aware of his threatening death.
Why does Keats refer to his beloved as fair creature of an hour? Because she is also at the mercy of time as she is a creature of an hour. She, too, has a short life span because, like him, she is mortal. The image implies that she is mortal and that humans don t have much time to spend on this earth.
Paraphrase the final couplet. Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink Paraphrase: Finally, after reflecting upon his feelings, which the act of writing this sonnet has involved, Keats thinks about human insignificance compared to the whole world. He finally accepts the unimportance of his desire for fame and love and thus ceases to fear and yearn. He realizes that death turns everything into nothing. Therefore, his high hopes for fame and love are not worth such intense stress.
Keats sonnet shows a deviation in his thoughts reflected in the poem. Explain. There is a major reversal in the thoughts or desires that shaped the first lines of the poem. Keats starts to change his thoughts in line 12. he has spent much time thinking about fame and love. The first section develops a single concept: his desire for love and success and his certainty that death will cut those desires short. Then the poem turns. The 2 nd section reverses these thoughts, taking the poem to a new direction. Now, his focus is wider; it is on the wide world. The last lines reject all of his desires as futile. He realizes that death turns everything into nothing. Therefore, his high hopes for fame and love are not worth such intensedr. stress. Abeer Salah
What is the theme of the sonnet? The theme is human mortality, which is one of the famous themes of the Romantics. Keats is afraid of death at a very young age, but his fear is justified. He lost his father at the age of 8. a year later, his grandfather died. In his early teens, his mother died. Exposed to so much death at a young age, keats realized the transience of life. The sonnet gives expression to his personal fear of his own early death which would doom to oblivion his human longings and artistic ambition.
Wordsworth uses hyperbole in his sonnet. Explain. The sonnet opens with hyperbole. The earth has no other sight as beautiful as the one the poet is seeing at the present. He believes that anyone who could see the sight he is witnessing and pass by without being stunned by its beauty has a dull spirit. The sestet opens with a sense of disbelief and exaggeration,too. when he says that he has never seen the sun rise more beautifully. When it appears and shines brightly, it lights up the hills, rocks, and valleyselements of the natural landscape. The whole sight brings him a sense of peace he has never experienced.
Both Keats and Wordsworth use 2 different sonnet forms to convey their emotions. Explain. keats uses the Shakespearean sonnet. It is a standard sonnet written in iambic pentameter. Each of the three quatrains in this Shakespearean sonnet deals with one of his fears. Then, in the final couplet, he reconsiders his thoughts and presents a different point of view. He finally accepts the unimportance of his desire for fame and love and thus ceases to fear and yearn. He realizes that death turns everything into nothingness. Therefore, his high hopes for fame and love are not worth such intense stress.
Wordsworth s Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" is an Italian sonnet, written in iambic pentameter with ten syllables per line. The rhyme scheme of the poem is abba abba cd cd cd. The rhyme scheme is repetitive and regular which gives a heart beat pulse to the poem like that of the city. the octave presents a view of the city as it wears the sunlit morning like a garment. The sestet declares that this man-made formation is as beautiful in the sunlight as any natural formation such as valleys and hills.
What is the dominant figure of speech used by Wordsworth. Illustrate with examples. The most striking figure of speech is personification which is used in several places in the poem with reference to the city, sun, river, and houses. The poet creates the impression that nature is a living being with soul. This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; The beauty of the morning is compared to a dress or a garment in a simile. Only people wear clothes, so London is personified. This also explains the use of the capital letter in City. So, he creates an image of a beautiful woman made more beautiful by the perfect dress she is wearing.
The river glideth,at his own sweet will: The river is also personified as a person with a free will, moving quietly and smoothly. The image implies that the river is calm and there is no one to disturb its flow, which contributes to the serenity of the whole scene. And all that mighty heart is lying still! Personification of England with London as its heart, always pumping and moving to keep the whole world moving. Now, this heart is lying still because the city, like its people, is asleep.
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; The houses are personified as sleeping people because the city is quiet and still. The huge city, London, which is always alive and noisy seems vacant and at peace.
What is the significance of the title? The poem s title is significant. It shows that the poem has been composed in the place it describes. So, the poem is an immediate record of an inspiration that belongs to a particular time and place. It reflects a particular, fleeting experience. The poem reflects Wordsworth s vision of London s serene beauty.