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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


VILLANELLE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE by WALTER ADOLPHE ROBERTS

First Line: THE STARSHINE ON THE ARCH IS SILVER WHITE
Last Line: THE GREEN-ROBED SPRING HAS COME TO TOWN TONIGHT.
Subject(s): WASHINGTON SQUARE, NEW YORK CITY;

The starshine on the Arch is silver white;
Elves, April elves, are dancing in the Square;
The green-robed Spring has come to town tonight.

Jasmines are in her arms and clouded quite
With lilac is the nimbus of her hair;
The starshine on the Arch is silver white.

With sap at floodtide and pale leaves bedight,
Ghosts of gray trees assume a vernal air;
The green-robed Spring has come to town tonight.

Young lovers' lips seek for the old delight,
On the park bench that winter-long was bare --
The starshine on the Arch is silver white --

And they who hear her primal call aright
Rejoice that, deathless, virginal and fair,
The green-robed Spring has come to town tonight.

Dreamers whose windows on the Square are bright
Know that your dreams may not with this compare;
The starshine on the Arch is silver white,
The green-robed Spring has come to town tonight.




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