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. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PRAYERS by HENRY CHARLES BEECHING JOAN OF ARC IN RHEIMS by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS THE CAGED SKYLARK by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS SHEET LIGHTNING by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN VILLAGE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |