Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE NEW CITY, by MARGUERITE WILKINSON Poet's Biography First Line: Have we seen her, the new city, o my brothers, where she stands Last Line: Happier, if our human travail builds their avenues to god! Subject(s): Holidays; Patriotism; Veterans Day | ||||||||
Have we seen her, The New City, O my brothers, where she stands, The superb, supreme creation of unnumbered human hands: The complete and sweet expression of unnumbered human souls, Bound by love to work together while their love their work controls; Built by brothers for their brothers, kept by sisters for their mates, Garlanded by happy children, playing free within the gates, Brooded by such mighty mothers as are born to lift us up Till we drink in full communion of God's wondrous "loving cup"? Clean and sightly are her pavements ringing sound beneath men's feet, Wide and ample are her forums where her citizens may meet, Fair and precious are her gardens where her youths and maidens dance In the fresh, pure air of Heaven, 'mid the flowers' extravagance. And her schools are as the ladders to the Spirit, from the Clay, Leading, round by round, to labor, strengthened, side by side, with play, And her teachers are her bravest, and her governors her best, For she loves the little children she has nourished at her breast. Never clangor of the trumpet, nor the hiss of bullets mad Breaks the music of her fountains, plashing seaward, flashing glad, For no excess and no squalor mark her fruitful, fair increase She has wrought life's final glory in a miracle of peace, And her citizens live justly, without gluttony or need, And he strives to serve the city who has bread enough to feed All his own, and she must labor, who would hold an honored place With the women of the city in their dignity and grace. Have ye seen her, O my brothers, The New City, where each hour Is a poet's revelation, or a hero's perfect power, Or an artist's new creation, or a laborer's new strength, Where a world of aspiration clings God by the feet, at length? Have ye seen her, The New City, in her glory? Ah, not yet Gilds the sun with actual splendor chimney top and minaret, But her site is surely purchased and her pattern is designed, And her blessed ways are visions for all striving humankind! The New City, O my brothers, we ourselves shall never see She will gladden children's children into holy ecstasy Let our lives be in the building! We shall lay us in the sod Happier, if our human travail builds their avenues to God! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHRIST OF THE ANDES by EDWIN MARKHAM DRAW THE SWORD, O REPUBLIC by EDGAR LEE MASTERS MEMORIAL DAY by WILLIAM E. BROOKS VICTORY BELLS by GRACE HAZARD CONKLING FIVE SOULS by WILLIAM NORMAN EWER BREST LEFT BEHIND by JOHN CHIPMAN FARRAR AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM' by THOMAS HARDY BEFORE MARCHING, AND AFTER (IN MEMORIAM F.W.G.) by THOMAS HARDY A SONG OF TWO WANDERERS by MARGUERITE WILKINSON |
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