Meditations in Westminster Abbey
by Joseph Addison
Understanding the Title
Westminster: The name literally means “west minster” or monastery. It distinguishes the church from St. Paul’s Cathedral to the east (“east minster”). A ‘minster’ is a large, important church, often of monastic origin.
Abbey: An abbey is a type of monastery used by a community of monks or nuns. Westminster Abbey has been a center of English religious and royal life for over a thousand years.
Together: The title “Westminster Abbey” immediately signifies a place of immense historical, religious, and national importance. For Addison, it is not just a building but a library of human history, making it the perfect setting for his “meditations” on life, death, and legacy.
About the Author: Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He is best remembered as the co-founder of the influential magazine *The Spectator*. In an age of fierce political division, Addison’s writing was celebrated for its calm, moderate tone and its goal of promoting politeness and civil discourse. His prose is a model of clarity, elegance, and balance, aiming to make complex philosophical and moral ideas accessible to a growing middle-class readership.
The Literary Period: The Augustan Age
This essay is a quintessential product of the Augustan Age (c. 1700-1745), a period of English literature characterized by a deep reverence for the classical ideals of ancient Rome and Greece. Writers of this era valued reason, logic, order, and clarity over intense emotion or imagination. They believed literature should have a moral or instructive purpose—to “delight and instruct.” Addison’s calm, reflective tone, his logical progression of thought, and his ultimate moral lesson about living a good life are all hallmarks of the Augustan worldview.
The Complete Essay & Analysis
When I am in a serious humour, I very often walk by myself in Westminster Abbey; where the gloominess of the place, and the use to which it is applied, are apt to fill the mind with a kind of melancholy, or rather thoughtfulness, that is not disagreeable.
Paragraph 1: Analysis
Theme: The power of a physical place to inspire a specific mental state—in this case, deep contemplation on mortality.
When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow: when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind.
Paragraph 2: Analysis
Theme: Death as the ultimate equalizer. All human ambitions, rivalries, and social hierarchies are rendered meaningless in the grave.
Device: Addison uses Parallelism (repeating the ‘When I…’ structure) and Juxtaposition (placing opposites like kings and their deposers together) to build his argument.
When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great Day when we shall all of us be Contemporaries, and make our appearance together.
Paragraph 3: Analysis
Theme: The transcendence of time in the face of eternity. From a divine perspective, the gap of centuries between deaths is meaningless.
Upon my going into the church, I entertained myself with the digging of a grave; and saw in every shovel-full of it that was thrown up, the fragment of a bone or skull intermixed with a kind of fresh mouldering earth that some time or other had a place in the composition of an human body. In this promiscuous heap of matter, which could not be distinguished from the earth, I could not but reflect with a secret kind of horror, that in the same manner, I myself should one day be converted into the same substance.
Paragraph 4: Analysis
Theme: A direct confrontation with the physical reality of death and decay, leading to the personal realization that his own body will meet the same fate.
Device: This is a classic example of Memento Mori (Latin for “remember you must die”).
But upon a further survey of this gloomy mansion, I was resolved to guard myself against such useless and mortifying reflections; and to be sorrowful for nothing, but what I have reason to be so for; and to consider the miseries of my fellow-creatures, as matters of humanity, and not of weakness. For as I am a man, I am not to think of what I am to be, but of what I am, and am not to be so much terrified with the thought of death, as to be taken up with the full enjoyment of life. And I know I shall not be the less fit for the next world, for having made myself happy in this.
Paragraph 5: Analysis
Theme: The resolution to live fully in the present. After meditating on death, Addison concludes that the proper response is not fear, but a commitment to enjoying life and practicing empathy.
Critical Analysis
Joseph Addison’s ‘Meditations in Westminster Abbey’ is a masterful example of Augustan prose, embodying the era’s ideals of reason, moral instruction, and stylistic clarity. Published in *The Spectator* in 1712, the essay transcends mere description, transforming a physical location into a profound philosophical space. Its genius lies in its carefully controlled structure: a journey from external observation to internal resolution, mirroring the Enlightenment’s emphasis on deriving universal truths from empirical evidence. Addison begins as a detached spectator, using the tombs of the Abbey as data points for his arguments. He moves logically from the general atmosphere to the specific reality of decay, and then to the grand social irony of death’s equalizing power. This progression is not merely descriptive but deeply analytical, reflecting a worldview where reason is the primary tool for understanding human existence.
The tone is one of serene rationality. Even when contemplating horror—the “promiscuous heap” of bone and earth—Addison’s reflection is controlled and intellectual. This emotional restraint, or *decorum*, is a hallmark of Neoclassicism, which stood in contrast to the perceived emotional excesses of earlier literature. The essay’s purpose is ultimately didactic; Addison is not just sharing his thoughts, but guiding his readers toward a specific moral conclusion. After demonstrating the vanity of worldly ambitions and the irrelevance of time, he pivots in the final paragraph to a life-affirming resolution. He argues that the correct response to mortality is not morbid fear but a full, empathetic, and happy engagement with the present. This conclusion, blending Stoic acceptance with Christian optimism, was perfectly pitched to the burgeoning middle-class readership of *The Spectator*, who sought practical wisdom for living a virtuous life.
Stylistically, the essay is a model of clarity and balance. Addison employs long, complex sentences structured with parallel clauses (“When I look… when I read… when I meet…”) that create a calm, rhythmic cadence. This rhetorical device, known as anaphora, builds a powerful, cumulative case for his arguments, making his conclusions feel inevitable and logical. His diction is precise and elegant, avoiding ostentatious language in favor of clarity. In essence, ‘Meditations in Westminster Abbey’ succeeds because it perfectly aligns its form with its function. The ordered, balanced prose mirrors the ordered, rational universe that Addison and his contemporaries sought to understand. It is a testament to the power of place-based reflection and a masterclass in using clear, purposeful prose to make complex philosophical ideas accessible and relevant to a broad audience, cementing its status as a cornerstone of the English essay tradition.