by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)
Earth has not anything to show more fair
Language: English
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!
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Text Authorship:
- by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850), "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1803", from Poems, Volume I, first published 1807, later revised [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "Sonnet", 1962 [ tenor and chamber ensemble ], from London Pastoral [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Upon Westminster Bridge", published 1943 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Eaton (1935 - 2015), "Lines written upon Westminster Bridge", from Songs for Ursula, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Westminster Bridge", published 1968 [ soprano and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968), "That Mighty Heart", 2008, first performed 2009 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Audrey Margaret Piggott (b. 1906), "Upon Westminster Bridge", 1957 [ SA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Geraldine Dorothy Rasmussen (b. 1925?6), "Westminster Bridge", c1969-70 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Upon Westminster Bridge", op. 127 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Short (b. 1937), "Upon Westminster Bridge", 1972 [ high voice and piano ], from 4 Wordsworth Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Brocklesby Wordsworth (1908 - 1988), "Westminster Bridge", published 1950 [ high voice and string quartet ], from Three Wordsworth Songs [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 109