Comparison between Archilochus and Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

Sebastian Corrochano: Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

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!

Archilochus

But if you are in pressing haste and desire drives you on,

there is in our household

one who now longs greatly...

a lovely tender maiden. She had, I think,

a beauty that is faultless.

She is the one whom you should make your own.

So much she said, and to her I replied:

"Daughter of Amphimedo,

that nobel and wise

woman whom the mouldering earth now holds below,

the goddess offers pleasures

of many sorts to young men

When you first look at these two poems, they appear to be vastly different. One is talking about a structure in a city and the other is talking about a woman. On the one side, you have William Wordsworth talking about the majesty and splendor of the Westminster Bridge. On the other, you have Archilochus talking about a lovely tender maiden with a faultless beauty. Overall though, both are really talking about beauty and how they perceive something as beautiful. Both are stricken with adoration, one with an incredible structure, the other with a pretty woman.

Composed upon Westminster bridge is about someone describing the most beautiful thing they have ever seen, the Westminster bridge on a clear, quiet morning. The peacefulness of the quiet morning and the clear air are unusual in a city that usually has much fog. The views of the countryside, the sky, and all the major landmarks in London add to the serenity. It possesses a calmness that the speaker has never felt, not even in the open countryside. This is surprising, since he is in the middle of a city that is usually very loud and bustling with activity.

The excerpt from Archilochus is about a woman who is very beautiful. The woman is so beautiful that she is someone worthy of being married, simply because of her beauty. The way he describes her is very sexual. The only things that seem to matter about her are her looks and how she can give men pleasures with the help of the goddess Amphimedo. He describes her as a tender young maiden. This is most likely a reference to her breasts and the way he would fondle her during sex, since uses similar terms later on when he describes having sex with a young woman.