Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE DEVOURERS, by EMILIE ROSE MACAULAY First Line: Cambridge town is a beleaguered city Last Line: Her imperishable heart of pity. Alternate Author Name(s): Macaulay, Rose Subject(s): Cambridge, England; England; English | ||||||||
CAMBRIDGE town is a beleaguered city; For south and north, like a sea, There beat on its gates, without haste or pity, The downs and the fen country Cambridge towers, so old, so wise, They were builded but yesterday, Watched by sleepy gray secret eyes That smiled as at children's play. Roads south of Cambridge run into the waste, Where learning and lamps are not, And the pale downs tumble, blind, chalk-faced, And the brooding churches squat. Roads north of Cambridge march through a plain Level like the traitor sea. It will swallow its ships, and turn and smile again -- The insatiable fen country. Lest the downs and the fens should eat Cambridge up, And its towers be tossed and thrown, And its rich wine drunk from its broken cup, And its beauty no more known -- Let us come, you and I, where the roads run blind, Out beyond the transient city, That our love, mingling with earth, may find Her imperishable heart of pity. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NINETEEN FORTY by NORMAN DUBIE GHOSTS IN ENGLAND by ROBINSON JEFFERS STAYING UP FOR ENGLAND by LIAM RECTOR STONE AND FLOWER by KENNETH REXROTH THE HANGED MAN by KENNETH REXROTH ENGLISH TRAIN COMPARTMENT by JOHN UPDIKE MANY SISTERS TO MANY BROTHERS by EMILIE ROSE MACAULAY |
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