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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BOSTON, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS Poet's Biography
First Line: The river curving to the sea
Last Line: Your ample guerdon, just to serve.
Subject(s): Boston
First Line: The river curving to the sea
Last Line: Your ample guerdon, just to serve.
Subject(s): Boston
The river curving to the sea,
The ocean populous of ships,
Hold the fair city tenderly,
And press her forehead with their lips.
For years but leave her fairer still,
And gleaming like a golden star;
Ever upon her central hill
A brighter glory shines afar:
The glory of a thoughtful mind,
A spirit open to the sky,
A heart that beats for all mankind,
A soul that worships God Most High.
No civic glory like to these,
Though stone on stone tremendous tower,
And all the wide world's argosies
Bring donatives of wealth and power.
From those ideals never shrink,
Dear town, nor once to mammon swerve, --
Your eager eminence, to think;
Your ample guerdon, just to serve.
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CLEAR AND COLDER; BOSTON COMMON by ROBERT FROST
THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM by AMY LOWELL
THE SEVEN CITIES OF AMERICA by EDGAR LEE MASTERS
SUNDAY IN BOSTON by JOHN UPDIKE
BOSTON YEAR by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER
THE THANKSGIVING IN BOSTON HARBOR [JUNE 12, 1630] by HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH
A BATTLE SONG (WRITTEN IN THE WORLD WAR) by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS