I MADE a town of wizard wiles, Holy and magic things, I dressed my heart in a mail of love To soften envy's stings. I made a town of fantasies Whereto I could retire And leave a world of haste to be With things of my desire. I built a town of sorceries On a white cliff towering high; Of quiet creeks and blossoming woods Dappled with shade and sky. I made a town of flowering domes, Tree and blossom and bud; Cascading down the cornices The sunsets poured their flood. I made a town of silverstone, Gardens with moon-white caves; And past the looming pylons went My jewel-footed slaves. I made a town of water-ways, Silver and grey and blue, And heard the sea's translucent shells Send incantations through. I made a town where ships come home From far and perilous shores; A town where foam of surging waves Leapt at the temple doors. I made a town of heart's desires; But I walked out one day: The track of the years is a twisted track, I come no more that way. The low adorning stars surround Those patient moonlit peaks; I have forgotten the tone and tongue Of the wind-voice and the creeks. The noise of another city comes; The traffic roars and reels; The wolfish ocean billows bay About the white cliff's heels. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOCKED OUT; AS TOLD TO A CHILD by ROBERT FROST SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: EUGENE CARMAN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: JOHN CABANIS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 10 by EZRA POUND |