“London, 1802” is a sonnet by William Wordsworth. The poem first appeared in the poetry collection Poems, in Two Volumes (1807). In this sonnet, Wordsworth invokes the figure of John Milton, the famous author of Paradise Lost and an active participant in the government of Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century. Using Milton as a symbol of traditional English virtue and republican idealism, Wordsworth contrasts the heroism of Milton’s time with the cultural and political stagnation of England in 1802. The sonnet is valuable both as a demonstration of Wordsworth’s mastery of the sonnet form, and as a testament to the radical revolutionary ideals that influenced Wordsworth and the other English Romantics of his generation. “London, 1802” is typical in both style and content of Wordsworth’s early poetic output, containing his elegant lyricism, his idealism of the past, and his determination to help inspire both cultural and political changes through his poetry.

Poet Biography

William Wordsworth is one of the giants of English literature, and his influence has been enormous both on his literary contemporaries and posthumously. Born on April 7, 1770 in England’s Lake District, Wordsworth became enchanted with the beauties of nature early in his life—a fascination that would later define him as a poet, and which would help to shape the trajectory of his life and personality.

Wordsworth experienced tragedy at a young age, having lost both his parents by his early teens. He received an excellent education, first at a grammar school in Hawkshead village, and later at the University of Cambridge, although he gradually lost interest in distinguishing himself academically. As a young man, Wordsworth was enthusiastic about the French Revolution. He stopped in France in 1790 during his walking tour of Europe to witness the country’s radical upheaval for himself. In 1791 he met and fell in love with a Frenchwoman, who later gave birth to his daughter. They never married, as Wordsworth returned to England after hostilities broke out between England and France and a reunion gradually became less and less feasible. While in France, Wordsworth became heavily influenced by the radical ideas of the French revolutionaries, which in turn shaped his own political and poetic outlook at the time.

After returning to England, Wordsworth started living with his sister, Dorothy, with whom he had always been close and who would remain his devoted companion for the rest of their lives. His return to England also led to his meeting and befriending of another young poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), who helped to further kindle Wordsworth’s growing confidence in his poetic talents. In 1798 they jointly published a collection called Lyrical Ballads, which would become a landmark text in the history of English Romanticism. In his Preface to the 1802 edition of the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth provided a now-famous explanation and defense of his and Coleridge’s poetic forms and themes, such as the privileging of emotion and individual experience, the beauties of nature, and the worth and dignity of the ordinary man/woman.

In 1807 Wordsworth published another important poetry collection, simply titled Poems, in Two Volumes, which included some of his most famous lyrics, such as “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “London, 1802” (the subject of this guide). During these years, Wordsworth lived with his sister in a place known as Dove Cottage in the Lake District, writing his major works and enjoying long walks in the natural landscapes that so inspired him. He married Mary Hutchinson in 1802, and together they had several children. The death of one of his daughters, Catherine, would later inspire one of his most famous sonnets, “Surprised by Joy,” which details his deep grief over his loss.

Although a radical in his youth, Wordsworth became far more conservative with age and gradually adopted more reactionary beliefs. As he grew older, he also wrote less. Ironically, although it is generally accepted by English scholars that Wordsworth’s poetic gifts faded with time, he actually became more respected socially and critically as he aged, only beginning to enjoy a reasonably decent literary reputation in the 1830s. While his younger and more radical work would prove to be enormously influential on other poets—especially the “second generation” Romantics such as Keats, Byron, and Shelley—contemporary critics seemed to prefer the mellower, more conservative Wordsworth of later years. Wordsworth was crowned Poet Laureate of England in 1843, and he remained in the post until he died on April 23, 1850 at the age of 80.

Poem Text

Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:

England hath need of thee: she is a fen

Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,

Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,

Have forfeited their ancient English dower

Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;

Oh! raise us up, return to us again;

And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.

Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:

Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:

Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,

So didst thou travel on life's common way,

In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart

The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

Wordsworth, William. “London, 1802.” 1807. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“London, 1802” is a sonnet delivered in the form of a direct address to John Milton, a 17th-century writer and revolutionary during the English Civil War. The speaker laments the fact that Milton is no longer living, as he believes that the England of 1802 could benefit from his intervention and example. The speaker describes the nation as suffering from a period of cultural, political, and social decline, claiming that Englishmen no longer appreciate the happiness and liberty that they have inherited from the proud English tradition Milton represents. Instead, the speaker complains, modern Englishmen have grown selfish. The speaker then calls upon Milton to once again lead the way by example, extolling Milton’s virtues and the power of his influence during his own day. Above all else, the speaker emphasizes how Milton—although possessing great gifts that distinguished him from others—nevertheless devoted himself to humbly serving England, thereby implying that others should also seek to follow in the steps of Milton’s civic service.