The White City
Claude McKay 1889 (Clarendon Parish) – 1948 (Chicago)
I will not toy with it nor bend an inch.
Deep in the secret chambers of my heart
I muse my life-long hate, and without flinch
I bear it nobly as I live my part.
My being would be a skeleton, a shell,
If this dark Passion that fills my every mood,
And makes my heaven in the white world's hell,
Did not forever feed me vital blood.
I see the mighty city through a mist--
The strident trains that speed the goaded mass,
The poles and spires and towers vapor-kissed,
The fortressed port through which the great ships pass,
The tides, the wharves, the dens I contemplate,
Are sweet like wanton loves because I hate.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 581 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCEFGFGHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 619 |
Words | 118 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"The White City" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/6901/the-white-city>.
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