POETS’ CORNER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2556, 17 July 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)

POETS’ CORNER.

THE CITY OF MY DREAM. (By Arthur Bennett in the London “Clarion.”) [ can fi‘ Q the city of my dream arising Neath these smoky northern skies, And my heart is all aglow with strange surmising Of its golden destinies. I have heard the crash of ancient buildings falling, And, above the dust and roar, I can hear the city’s voice in muskcalling To the years that lie before. There are statues and a fountain in the centre Of the spacious circus there, And the four great streets by which : you enter Are divinely broad and fair; And the buildings which surround it, tall and queenly, Lift their faces to the sun; And the moonlight on the marble falls serenely, When the busy day is done. And the six main roads go grandly sweeping Through the interlacing leaves. To the sweet suburban homesteads shyly sleeping With the swallows in their caves; To the mills and looms where healthy people labor, To the meadows where they play. Where the rich man and the poor are friend and neighbor, And the children sing and stray. . ] And the feverish courts and pestilential F;| alleys, And the human styes are gone; And I catch the sheen of distant dome and palace In the soft light of the sun; And the streets and squares are fall of honest laughter, S And the sound of melody; And from ingle-nook to strong old oaken rafter Are the houses fair to see. And it stands upon an unpolluted river Which reflects an unstained skv; And green-branches in its highways softly quiver, And great ships go sailing by; From its walls great names at every corner greet me, Through its streets great shadows move. And at- ever;- turn the shining faces meet me Of the spirits that I love; Of the stately spirits who have helped to build it For two thousand mighty years. And the memory of whose gracious deeds has filled it With a glory past its peers; _ And above it- points the old spire, like a finger, . A When the stars begin to glow. And the last light of the sunset- seems to linger In the happy streets below. Is it trees, and flowers, and gardens that are wanted P Is it smiling homesteads fair? Is it- marts, and towel's, and monuments enchanted ? I can find them everywhere! _ Is it mirth without the ancient taintof evil? Is it toil without the penalty ot pain ? Is it Eden with no shadow of the devil.? t f They are here in every lane! I can see the city of my dream arising Bv the inky river here; I can see its roofs and spires, m sweet surmising. And its golden atmosphere; And the least of us, my friends, may help to build it. And the nation yet- shall see How its sons, with one consent, arose, and willed it. And the city came to be.