Here Turner brings the great force of his romantic genius to a common scene of working–class men at hard labor. Although the subject of the painting is rooted in the grim realities of the industrial revolution, in Turner's hands it transcends the specifics of time and place and becomes an image of startling visual poetry.

　An almost palpable flood of moonlight breaks through the clouds in a great vault that spans the banks of the channel and illuminates the sky and the water. The heavy impasto of the moon's reflection on the unbroken expanse of water rivals the radiance of the sky, where gradations of light create a powerful, swirling vortex.

　To the right, the keelmen and the dark, flat–bottomed keels that carried the coal from Northumberland and Durham down the River Tyne are silhouetted against the orange and white flames from the torches, as the coal is transferred to the sailing ships. To the left, square riggers wait to sail out on the morning tide. Behind these ships Turner suggested the distant cluster of factories and ships with touches of gray paint and a few thin lines. Through the shadowy atmosphere ships' riggings, keels and keelmen, fiery torches, and reflections on the water merge into a richly textured surface pattern.

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　　该油画描绘了煤港轮船在月光下的景色。画的中央偏左是一轮明月，月光如水银般洒在水面上。右边是点点灯火，还有夜色中工作的人们，忙着卸货或是把煤搬上船。

　　整幅作品沿袭了他一贯的漩涡结构的风格，黄色的铺垫和渲染，丰富的思想内涵和崇高的历史责任，在西方绘画史上留下了不可磨灭的一页。透纳作品的画面主要通过色彩和色块之间的对比过渡构建起来，而观看他的作品，就能看到他的天赋以及对色彩流动感的准确表达，这些绘画技巧都与传统绘画大相径庭。色彩是透纳水彩风景画中的主体艺术语言，他在无形之中将色彩的表现力推向了极致，这在透纳所处的时代是独一无二的。在作品中与光的主宰相应，还有光对色彩和色块的衔接和渗透之中，建构起画面。

　　月色、轮船、月色下的帆影、煤港都在光色变幻莫测的朦胧感内飘忽可见，月色暖黄的光映照在水面，画中的点点灯火和忙碌中卸货搬运的人们，笼罩在这茫茫烟霭之中的景致都是画家对大自然和人类工业的发现与印象。更有人说有了透纳伦敦才有了雾，足见其对光影表现得淋漓尽致。而他将工业形象的轮船与码头融入大自然的风景之中也开一代风景画的先例，这种人与自然的巧妙融合，亦是特纳对绘画内涵的深度挖掘，而非仅仅对大自然的观察重现，非单一的风景与情绪的表现。