Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE CITY'S CROWN, by WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CITY'S CROWN, by                    
First Line: What makes a city great? Huge piles of stone
Last Line: Till every stone shall be articulate.
Subject(s): Cities; Religion; Wealth; Urban Life; Theology; Riches; Fortunes


What makes a city great? Huge piles of stone
Heaped heavenward? Vast multitudes who dwell
Within wide circling walls? Palace and throne
And riches past the count of man to tell,
And wide domain? Nay, these the empty husk!
True glory dwells where glorious deeds are done,
Where great men rise whose names athwart the dusk
Of misty centuries gleam like the sun!
In Athens, Sparta, Florence, 'twas the soul
That was the city's bright immortal part,
The splendor of the spirit was their goal,
Their jewel the unconquerable heart!
So may the city that I love be great
Till every stone shall be articulate.





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