Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TWO SONNETS FROM NEW YORK: TOWERS by ADELAIDE NICHOLS BAKER

First Line: SOMETHING THERE IS IN ME EXULTS IN TOWERS
Last Line: FROM PENNONS ON THE TURRETS OF THEIR TIME.
Subject(s): NEW YORK CITY; SKYSCRAPERS; MANHATTAN; NEW YORK, NEW YORK; THE BIG APPLE;
Something there is in me exults in towers
Like these that lift themselves sheer into light,
Pinnacles formed like dreams, yet framed in might,
Beauty, the incorruptible, that flowers
High against heaven to glorify the powers
Of greedy earth, I even take delight
To see them flaunt great names against the night,
Great common names, potent as princely dowers.

Bush, Woolworth, Wurlitzer, and Chickering,
The feudal lords of this our modern earth
That flaunt their names from pinnacles sublime.
So in old days did robber barons fling
The fame of Warwick, Sterling, Kenilworth,
From pennons on the turrets of their time.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net