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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BOSTON COMMON: 1869 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Poet Analysis

First Line: AROUND THE GREEN, IN MORNING LIGHT
Last Line: HE LED OUR SIRES WHO WON THEM ALL!
Subject(s): BOSTON;

AROUND the green, in morning light,
The spired and palaced summits blaze,
And, sunlike, from her Beacon-height
The dome-crowned city spreads her rays;
They span the waves, they belt the plains,
They skirt the roads with bands of white,
Till with a flash of gilded panes
Yon farthest hillside bounds the sight.
Peace, Freedom, Wealth! no fairer view,
Though with the wild-bird's restless wings
We sailed beneath the noontide's blue
Or chased the moonlight's endless rings!
Here, fitly raised by grateful hands
His holiest memory to recall,
The Hero's, Patriot's image stands;
He led our sires who won them all!



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