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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON NEARING WASHINGTON by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON

First Line: CITY OF HOMES AND IN MY HEART MY HOME!
Last Line: T IS FOR RARE JOYS, SCARCE KNOWN TILL LOVE REMEMBERS.

CITY of homes and in my heart my home!
(Though other streets exact a grudging fee):
How leap my pulses when afar I see
The dawn creep whitening down thy solemn dome!
For now my care-restricted steps may roam
Thy urban groves -- a forest soon to be --
Where, like thy shining river, placid, free,
Contentment dwells and beckons me to come.

Ah, city dear to lovers! -- that dost keep
For their delight what Mays and what Novembers! --
Kindling the flame, and if it ever sleep,
New-lighting it within the breathing embers;
Dear even in their sorrow! for when they weep
'T is for rare joys, scarce known till Love remembers.



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