The Pool. George Seymour. c. 1883-84. Source: Watson, “The Lower Thames —III,” 256.
Mr. Seymour has given us a true Thames picture in his drawing of Southwark Bridge (4). In this sweeping sketch the whole character of this portion of the river is expressed: always crowded at the side by boats and wherries, always blocked in the middle by a chain of barges, always that busy little steamer hurrying towards the Pool, always, too, that confusing atmosphere which bathes warehouses and wharves in beautiful colour, and adds mystery to the magnificence of St. Paul's. Less touching, but equally full of character, is the long reach of buildings which succeeds — massive and business-like, lacking poetry, but very expressive of what is, after all, the chief distinction of our wonderful Thames, that vast commerce which makes it the greatest port in the world. Last of all, at our journey's end to-day, we are brought A'cry near to the work-a-day world in the picture of St. Paul's from the river; but here we are confronted with one of the finest sights that our river has to show. It is at once quaint and majestic, this wonderful group of many-storeyed warehouses over which the masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren stands dominant. One of the fanciful derivations of the name of London is from "a city on a hill," and here the hill stands before us, crowned with its great cathedral, with its huge cross lifting up towards the eternal stars. [114]
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Image capture and formatting by George P. Landow. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Internet Archive and the University of Toronto and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Watson, Aaron. “The Lower Thames —III.” The Magazine of Art. 7: (1883-84): 107-114. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 8 November 2014
Last modified 14 November 2014