The Mnemosyne Weekly: Poem Fourteen

1236
This week I’ll be memorizing “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802” by William Wordsworth. Here we’re invited to observe a beautiful, peaceful, blissful moment that, in its description and stillness, has always felt like a painting or photograph to me–hence the Monet, for me the ideal accompaniment. And though Monet’s painting portrays a little more activity than Wordsworth’s sonnet, it nevertheless shares a tranquil quality and the same lovely subject matter. If you’re not familiar with Wordsworth, he was an English poet of the Romantic era and lived from April 1770 – April 1850.
If you’re new to the blog, please check out the first Mnemosyne Post to see what this project is all about. And please keep suggesting titles! I always learn the most from the ones I would have never thought to select myself.Have a great week, everyone!Wishing you many moments like Wordsworth’s on Westminster–
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!

This is a small representation of the high-quality writings you’ll find in every issue of TIFERET.

We receive no outside funding and rely on digital issues, workshop fees, and donations to publish. If you enjoy our journal’s verbal and visual offerings, we hope you’ll consider supporting us in one of these ways.

Click Here to Purchase Digital Issues
Previous articleteachings in dialogue
Next articleMnemosyne Fifteen (Rumi), with an introduction to Rasoul Shams