Poems; original and translated by Charles Rann Kennedy ... and Two Poems by the Rev. Rann Kennedy. New Edition. By Charles Rann Kennedy |
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VIEW OF A MANUFACTURING TOWN. |
 | Poems; original and translated |  |
VIEW OF A MANUFACTURING TOWN.
A wilderness of brickwork chokes the plain:A murky twilight covers it with gloom,
That lightnings could not clear nor suns illume:
Smoke from enormous chimneys pours amain
With flames that thro' the sooty darkness glare:
Infernal engines ply their strength within,
Redoubling stroke on stroke, with iron din
And ceaseless thunder-noise, stunning the air.
The forge 'twould seem of some Cyclopian crew:
No place for such as dote on mountain view,
On sylvan glade and flower-enamell'd ground:
But would ye see of life a picture true,
Tis here: in every motion, every sound,
Man breathes and pants and labours all around.
| Poems; original and translated | |