Roof-tops, roof-tops, what do you cover? Sad folk, bad folk, and many a glowing lover; Wise people, simple people, children of despair -- Roof-tops, roof-tops, hiding pain and care. Roof-tops, roof-tops, O what sin you're knowing, While above you in the sky the white clouds are blowing; While beneath you, agony and dolor and grim strife Fight the olden battle, the olden war of Life. Roof-tops, roof-tops, cover up their shame -- Wretched souls, prisoned souls too piteous to name; Man himself hath built you all to hide away the stars -- Roof-tops, roof-tops, you hide ten million scars. Roof-tops, roof-tops, well I know you cover Many solemn tragedies and many a lonely lover; But ah, you hide the good that lives in the throbbing city -- Patient wives, and tenderness, forgiveness, faith, and pity. Roof-tops, roof-tops, this is what I wonder: You are thick as poisonous plants, thick the people under; Yet roofless, and homeless, and shelterless they roam, The driftwood of the town who have no roof-top and no home! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RETREAT by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON WESSEX HEIGHTS by THOMAS HARDY THE DEPARTURE OF THE SWALLOW by WILLIAM HOWITT FIFTY YEARS (1863-1913) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SONNETS TO LAURA IN LIFE: 131 by PETRARCH THE MULBERRY GARDEN: CHILD AND MAIDEN by CHARLES SEDLEY |