Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONNET: 24. THE STREET, by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONNET: 24. THE STREET, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: They pass me by like shadows, crowds on crowds
Last Line: A dead soul's epitaph in every face!
Subject(s): Streets; Avenues


THEY pass me by like shadows, crowds on crowds,
Dim ghosts of men, that hover to and fro,
Hugging their bodies round them like thin shrouds
Wherein their souls were buried long ago:
They trampled on their youth, and faith, and love,
They cast their hope of human-kind away,
With Heaven's clear messages they madly strove,
And conquered, -- and their spirits turned to clay:
Lo! how they wander round the world, their grave,
Whose ever-gaping maw by such is fed,
Gibbering at living men, and idly rave,
"We, only, truly live, but ye are dead."
Alas! poor fools, the anointed eye may trace
A dead soul's epitaph in every face!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net