Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE BEAUTY OF A CITY by ELIZABETH DAWSON

First Line: THE BEAUTY OF A CITY SEEMS TO BE
Last Line: IN THE RAIN; AND SMILES ON PASSING FACES.
Subject(s): CITIES; URBAN LIFE;

The beauty of a city seems to be
Not in the architecture, or a spire,
Nor edifice, or spider-work of wire;
For beauty is too wild, untamed, and free
To stay concrete, inert, for all to see,
Dressing a structure in the drab attire
That clothes embodiments of our desire
To build in stone, some strange hyperbole.

The beauty of a city seems aloof --
Long undiscovered by a stranger there,
But we, who daily weave its warp and woof,
May pick the tangled threads up everywhere:
It is the friendliness of market places
In the rain; and smiles on passing faces.



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