OCR Text |
Show SONG OF THE CITY. Bj H By Charlton Lawrence Edholm. IBS! Ul I said to the Poet, ! lfl You, who have sung of force, mWB fjH Of the mighty inertia of mountains, 3BHr Of love and battle, a man's song, j99; H Of the glad fertility of league-wide fields, HHLJ H Of brown ranges with herds of thin, fleet cattle, Wmm j fl Of the grim desert, brooding over gold, iHHk! iH Where is your Song of the City? Ural' IH Where is your song of the force of the city, HHi I 11 Stronger than brawn of brutes, mKh ifl Wise with the knowledge of a million cunning $1811 HI brains? jfflljl ' Let me hear your Song of the City! IHRf 1 And the Poet: 1 wE I jH Here on the topmost girder, stand for a moment ilfi; H and listen, j fi jH Close your eyes lest you sicken i jara H To look on streets a-swarming, jjl H A swift Death's-drop below you. j abi , H Close your eyes to the workers, on thin and nar- i ffltifA H row planking IMh Nonchalant. Tossing and catching 1 Imjjji IH The flying, red-hot rivets I fjiw H Above the heads of the city; I see them, Vulcans Wnm$ 1 and Titans, WW Above the planets' whirl, ",Pf'F Play pltch-and-catch with comets. ,3j; jj gH I watch their play, applauding; rJ WM But you, close your eyes and listen. Hif The clamor of hammers on rivets, is that not the lp M roar of a battle! ftiaK" The voices of men in the street, the surge of their 11 incessant passage, t)t ' I 1 The shouting of shrill-tongued boys, too young to flki MB be silent in battle, WllHf i H The soft-shod cars of the captains, with arrogant frfji ' 1 hooting on-hasting, Hst The brazen clangor, announcing 111! If H The flight, by steel-bounded path, of thunderbolts u- ifl on a man's errand, " tf i M The screech of the hurtling trains, that hurry re- JJ ' M cruits to the battle; 'i)wA flj Then, with the sun at zenith, W, ! jl' B The scream, as of white-plumed Valkyries $ B Hovering o'er the field. '$ J W m 'r l There is your Song of the City, th'ty' H That shouts, unrestrained, like a war-cry I'J H When the lino breaks step in charging. .; fyt H In vain I strove to shackle the song Avith rhyme rj; fo H and with rhythm; .$' H I tried, but in vain, to tame it. '4 J. M From the brazen throat of the city, .-Vlk, H Now take it, your Song of the City! 'V'H I Metropolitan. ). j H |