It Is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free

“Composed Upon Westminster Bridge: September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth (1807)

One of Wordsworth’s most famous sonnets describes an experience that took place on July 31, 1802, as he and his sister Dorothy were on their way to France. The poem is a cityscape, describing a peaceful London in the early morning as the poet looks out from Westminster Bridge. Wordsworth emphasizes how calm he feels as he contemplates the “ships, towers, domes, theaters, and temples.” 

“Calais, August 1802” by William Wordsworth 

Wordsworth wrote this sonnet while he and Dorothy were visiting Annette Vallon and Caroline. His subject is not the beauty of nature, however. Instead, he assesses the political situation. He decries the English tourists who are flocking to France to pay tribute to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who became consul for life in May 1802: they “bend the knee [...] before the new-born Majesty.” Wordsworth believed that France no longer represented liberty or truth but only the triumph of autocratic power. 

“Composed by the Sea-Side, near Calais, August 1802” by William Wordsworth (1807)

This is another of Wordsworth’s Calais sonnets. Looking at the night sky, he praises the evening star, watching as it seems to sink down to England—just a few miles away across the English Channel.