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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SAINT PETERSBURG by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR

First Line: SEE! FROM THE FINLAND MARSHES THERE
Last Line: BEAMS ALL THE DUSKY DISTANCE THROUGH!
Subject(s): RUSSIA; SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA; SOVIET UNION; RUSSIANS; LENINGRAD; PETROGRAD;

SEE! From the Finland marshes there
'T is proud St. Isaac's rears in air,
Pillar on pillar, that shining dome!
And, just beyond its glorious swell,
'T is the slender spire of the Citadel
Where great Czar Peter slumbers well
All by the Neva's flood and foam, --
That lifts its cross till the golden bars
Gleam and burn with the midnight stars!
Taller than Luxor's shafts, and grander,
Looms the pillar of Alexander
Guarding the palace that fronts the square;
And, out where the mist o'er Okhta flies,
The towers of the Nevski Cloister rise, --
Shrine of the saint who, deathless, lies
Circled with silver, and jewels rare;
And Smolnoi's wealth of spangled blue
Beams all the dusky distance through!



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