2.4 Upon Westminster Bridge
The poet: William Wordsworth
He was born on April 7, 1770. He was a major English Romantic poet. He
was honoured as ‘Poet Laureate’ of the United Kingdom in the court of Queen
Victoria.
He is a leading English Nature poet. His collection of poetry ‘Lyrical
Ballads’ is considered as the central work of Romantic Literary theory.
The title:
Upon the Westminster Bridge
The title ‘Upon the Westminster Bridge’ tells us that the poet is standing on the bridge. The poet William Wordsworth sees various scenes surrounding the bridge. He describes London as a beautiful city clothed in the morning sunlight with its ships, towers, domes, theatres, temples, and river. The calmness and quietness of the morning scene impressed him deeply and it is the source of the poem.
Ice Breaker Activities:
1) A bridge connects people at either sides of a river or valleys in
cities or villages. Discuss with your partner the importance of a bridge to
both- the cities and the villages and complete the table.
Answer:
|
Cities |
Villages |
|
i) Connects two
banks. Easy access to different areas of the city. |
i) Enables
residents to have all season access to both sides. |
|
ii) To by-pass
traffic to avoid traffic jam. |
ii)
Easy movement of farm material and products. |
|
iii) Easy
movement of goods. |
iii)
Saves time of travel. |
|
iv) Connects
people in different communities. |
iv)
Village children can attend school, if present at the other side of the
bridge. |
|
v) Enable
consumers to travel to shops and malls. |
v) Enable
to carry heavy loads easily and quickly to other side. |
|
vi) Helps to view
new areas as tourists. Gives chance to enjoy site seeing standing on the bridge. |
vi)
Helps to interact other communities for work or help. |
2) Building a bridge needs careful planning. Think about what goes on
before the actual construction begins.
Answer:
1)
Proper planning
2)
Search for location to build the bridge.
3)
Taking permissions and completion of paperwork.
4)
Cost Estimation.
5)
Storing construction materials.
6)
Selection of the type of foundation.
7)
Redirecting the traffic to other roads.
8)
Implementation on the plan given by the architect.
9)
Suitable construction work.
10)
Proper supervision.
3) You might have visited a bridge. Complete the web describing the
sights you could see from the bridge.
Answer:
|
River, Trees, Boats |
Clean sky, stars |
City lights,
roads |
|
Sunset, Sunrise,
Moonlight |
Sights that can be seen from a bridge |
Mountain, hill, gardens,
bank of the river |
|
City buildings, vehicles,
crowd |
Birds, fish,
swimmers, cleaning persons. |
Reflection of
bridge, trees, buildings in river water. |
