|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ROOF PIGEONS, by EMMA ROBERTSON MCRAE
First Line: Stark-lying roofs the teeming city crown
Last Line: Roof-bound to earth who might to heaven soar.
Subject(s): Pigeons
First Line: Stark-lying roofs the teeming city crown
Last Line: Roof-bound to earth who might to heaven soar.
Subject(s): Pigeons
Stark-lying roofs the teeming city crown,
Upturned in graceless candor to the still
Serenity of sky. The chimneys spill
Their sooty incense, and beneath their frown
The pigeons strut and flutter, out and down
In petty pomp, from roof to grimy sill
Or noisy kerb, pecking their greedy fill
From littered refuse of the careless town.
O creatures, winged for flight in freer air
To skies above a vaster world outspread,
Slaves to your weighted bodies, grossly fed
On easy banquets of unhallowed fare!
Yours is the sin unshriven evermore --
Roof-bound to earth who might to heaven soar.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
TRINITY PLACE by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY
STREET SONGS: 1. THE PIGEONS by WALLACE STEVENS
PIGEONS IN GEORGE SQUARE by ANNE STEVENSON
PERFECT; ON THE WESTERN SEABOARD OF SOUTH UIST by CHRISTOPHER MURRAY GRIEVE
THE BELFRY PIGEON by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS