The Bridge between Clifton and Leigh Woods

William Lisle Bowles

Frown ever opposite, the angel cried,
  Who, with an earthquake's might and giant hand,
  Severed these riven rocks, and bade them stand
Severed for ever! The vast ocean-tide,
  Leaving its roar without at his command,
  Shrank, and beneath the woods through the green land
Went gently murmuring on, so to deride
The frowning barriers that its force defied!
  But Art, high o'er the trailing smoke below
Of sea-bound steamer, on yon summit's head
  Sat musing; and where scarce a wandering crow
Sailed o'er the chasm, in thought a highway led;
  Conquering, as by an arrow from a bow,
The scene's lone Genius by her elfin-thread.

CLIFTON, 27th August 1836

The spectacular bridge across the Avon Gorge between Clifton and Leigh Woods, was designed by the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Work on the bridge started in 1831, but it was not completed until 1864, after Brunel's death.

It is one of the most famous sights in the city of Bristol.


Main Location:

Clifton Suspension Bridge, Clifton, Bristol, England

The Clifton Suspension Bridge across the River Avon

The writer of a number of poems about Bristol and other places, the poet William Lisle Bowles