Let the roar go up from the city! Let the armies of Greed surge on! But give me the roar Of a surf-bound shore, Where Liberty greets the dawn. Let the roar go up from the city! Let them jostle for place and power! But give me the shade, Where God has made The moss in the laurel bower. Let the roar go up from the city! Some are wed to the luxuries there, But wild and free As a hawk I'd be, In an emerald forest air. Let the roar go up from the city! From a life that is stilted in pain, Till the glimmer and gleam Of Society's dream Shall tremble and break with the strain. God pity the poor in the city, Whose hearts on their hinges rust— Who sigh for the trees And the ocean breeze But are chained in the heat and dust. Let the roar go up from the city! But soon there shall ascend A note more clear, And deep, and dear, When a man in God shall blend, And the trailing mists of the morning Shall usher the gladsome hours, When human art With Nature's heart Shall strew the earth with flowers. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE AMERICANS UNDER GENERAL GREENE by PHILIP FRENEAU ADVICE TO A LADY [IN AUTUMN] by PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE THE VIKING by CLARIBEL WEEKS AVERY ROMAIOS by WILLAM GAY BALLANTINE A PREPARATORY HYMNE TO THE WEEK OF MEDITACIONS UPON, & DEVOUT EXERCISE by JOSEPH BEAUMONT ON JOHN DOVE [JOHNNY DOW], INNKEEPER OF MAUCHLINE by ROBERT BURNS |