O you whom God hath called and set apart To build a city after His own heart, Be this your task—to fill the city's veins With the red blood of friendship; plant her plains With seeds of peace: above her portals wreathe Greeting and welcome: let the air we breathe Be musical with accents of good will That leap from lip to lip with joyous thrill; So may the stranger find upon the streets A kindly look in every face he meets; So may the spirit of the city tell All her souls within her gates that all is well; In all her homes let gentleness be found, In every neighborhood let grace abound, In every store and shop and forge and mill Where men of toil their daily tasks fulfill, Where guiding brain and workmen's skill are wise To shape the product of our industries, Where treasured stores the hands of toil sustain, Let friendship speed the work and share the gain, And thus, through all the city's teeming life, Let helpfulness have room with generous strife To serve. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UPON THE LOSS OF HIS MISTRESSES by ROBERT HERRICK THE BALLAD OF BOUILLABAISSE by WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY EPITAPH FOR LINCOLN by WALT WHITMAN PENTRIDGE BY THE RIVER by WILLIAM BARNES THE DAWNING O' THE YEAR by MARY (MAY) ELIZABETH (MCGRATH) BLAKE LADIES FAIR by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH |