ABOVE him in the city street, The flame of noon increased; With tumult as when armies meet, Life urged her great and least; 'Mid din and turmoil, dust and heat, Went driven man and beast. @3He felt the salt wind on his face, The wet sand at his feet; He saw the white sails lift again, He heard the singing sailor men Above the combers' beat; And half the way across the world the song came clear and sweet.@1 Above the dismal lodging hung The heavy heat of day; The swarming insects buzzed and clung; Within the gas-light's ray Men wrangled in an alien tongue, Or slept as cattle may. @3He felt the cool of dew-damp fields, He heard the fiddles play The old remembered dancing tune; He saw the white midsummer moon, And mocking -- luring -- gay, The sound of one girl's laughter came from half a world away.@1 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MOTHER NIGHT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON TREES by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS CATTLE SHOW by CHRISTOPHER MURRAY GRIEVE ON AN INVITATION TO THE UNITED STATES by THOMAS HARDY THE CITY AT THE END OF THINGS by ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 6. THE KISS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TO WALTER LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD ON HIS BAR-MITZVAH by LOUIS BARNETT ABRAHAMS |