Romantic Wheeling Project: Suspended

It was built to be the longest in its decade,
but now as men walk across it, its purpose degrades.
Forged by the hands of stone and steel,
giving interested eyes a historic appeal.

Now gaze upon the bridge, tell what you see,
and ask why men would collapse it into the Ohio Sea?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder;
some say the bridge becomes more beautiful as it gets older.
Yet, others see it as a sore to the eye,
but history should never be passed by.

Suspended by the cables of time,
forever raised in its historic prime.
Day by day men will travel across its beams,
running over the longest bridge Ellet had ever seen.

It was built to be the longest, and still stands as the strongest.

—

The Romantic Wheeling Project is a multi-genre place-based learning project where 12th grade Honors English students at Wheeling Park High School used themes of British Romanticism like Natural over Artificial, Emotion over Reason, and the Quest for Forbidden Knowledge to explore their emotional connection with The Friendly City that raised them. Students were to choose one landmark, neighborhood, or place in Wheeling to inspire their open form creative writing. The student wrote short stories, poems, songs, and played with other genres to express their connections and views of Wheeling through a Romantic lens.