Quality Hill! It looked down on the town With a tinge of contempt, a suspicion of frown; And why should it not, if you'll please to declare, With the atmosphere such a superior air, And the earth to be trod, any hour in the day, Of a texture more fine than mere commonplace clay? Quality Hill! As you clambered the slope, With each step of ascent (to make use of a trope) An attar pervasive, by some subtle stealth, Began to steal out from the roses of Wealth; And wherever you fared, you beheld on each side A presence arrayed in the trappings of Pride. Quality Hill! There the blood it ran blue; There was more than one crest; there were quarterings, too. Yet small quarter they gave to the stranger that came, Those who bowed before Fashion, that debonair dame, Unless the new-comer crept into the fold Through the magical sign of the Goddess of Gold! Quality Hill! There was satin and silk For "my lady," and dresses as snowy as milk; There was poise, there was pose; there was plenty of art, But who dare assert that beneath it was heart? And envy and malice? But, stay! Could aught ill (God's grace!) have a place upon Quality Hill? Quality Hill! Lo! it flourishes still! And who can deny that forever it will? A blending of breeding with puff and with plume; A strange sort of mixture of rick and mushroom. Some amble, some scramble, (some gamble!) to fill The motley and medley of Quality Hill. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A LONDON FETE by COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON PATMORE SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 97 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI LOFT AT NIGHT by VIRGINIA ABEL ALARIC AT ROME by MATTHEW ARNOLD EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 9. LOVE A TICKLISH GAME by PHILIP AYRES SONNET FROM JAPAN: 2. THE SHRINE OF THE PILGRIM SANDALS by ADELAIDE NICHOLS BAKER |