Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ETERNAL LONDON, by THOMAS MOORE Poet's Biography First Line: And is there then no earthly place Alternate Author Name(s): Little, Thomas Variant Title(s): Rhymes On The Roa Subject(s): Travel | ||||||||
And is there then no earthly place; Where we can rest in dream Elysian, Without some curst, round English face, Popping up near to break the vision? Mid northern lakes, mid southern vines. Unholy cits we 're doomed to meet; Nor highest Alps nor Apennines Are sacred from Threadneedle Street! If up the Simplon's path we wind, Fancying we leave this world behind, Such pleasant sounds salute one's ear As - " Baddish news from 'Change, my dear - The funds - phew! curse this ugly hill) - Are lowering fast - (what, higher still?) - And - (zooks, we 're mounting up to heaven!) - Will soon be down to sixty-seven. Go where we may - rest where we will, Eternal London haunts us still. The trash of Almack's or Fleet Ditch - And scarce a pin's head difference which - Mixes, tho' even to Greece we run, With every rill from Helicon! And if this rage for travelling lasts, If Cockneys of all sects and castes, Old maidens, aldermen, and squires, Will leave their puddings and coal fires, To gape at things in foreign lands No soul among them understands; If Blues desert their coteries, To show off 'mong the Wahabees; If neither sex nor age controls, Nor fear of Mamelukes forbids Young ladies with pink parasols To glide among the Pyramids - Why, then, farewell all hope to find A spot that's free from London-kind! Who knows, if to the West we roam, But we may find some Blue " at home " Among the Blacks of Carolina - Or flying to the Eastward see Some Mrs. H OPKINS taking tea And toast upon the Wall of China! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES WHERE THE TRACK VANISHES by GALWAY KINNELL A CANADIAN BOAT SONG; WRITTEN ON THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE by THOMAS MOORE |
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