MUCH have we cursed the city. It has been Reviled of old as Mammon's very own, A heartless labyrinth of steel and stone Devoid of pity, peace and love; wherein The gilded gamblers cast the dice of sin, And with their wanton wages build a throne To Moloch Greed, deaf to the undertone Of ominous woe which wails beneath the din. Yet have we this dark picture overpainted, Remembering not that Faith and Charity Walk even in the marts with vices tainted, And cities shelter Him of Galilee, While there are kindly men whose souls are sainted By secret acts of broad humanity. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE COCK AND THE FOX, OR THE TALE OF THE NUN'S PRIEST by GEOFFREY CHAUCER DEWEY AT MANILA [MAY 1, 1898] by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON THE FIRST SNOWFALL by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL SHILOH; A REQUIEM by HERMAN MELVILLE A LONDON FETE by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE TO SENECA LAKE by JAMES GATES PERCIVAL |