Dear God, the very houses seem asleep.

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

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The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fi elds, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

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In his fi rst 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