“City Visions" by Emma Lazarus

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 20, 2017   City Visions   Emma Lazarus

I.   As the blind Milton's memory of light, The deaf Beethoven's phantasy of tone, Wrought joys for them surpassing all things known In our restricted sphere of sound and sight,— So while the glaring streets of brick and stone Vex with heat, noise, and dust from morn till night, I will give rein to Fancy, taking flight From dismal now and here, and dwell alone With new-enfranchised senses. All day long, Think ye 't is I, who sit 'twixt darkened walls, While ye chase beauty over land and sea? Uplift on wings of some rare poet's song, Where the wide billow laughs and leaps and falls, I soar cloud-high, free as the winds are free.                                              II.   Who grasps the substance? who 'mid shadows strays? He who within some dark-bright wood reclines, 'Twixt sleep and waking, where the needled pines Have cushioned all his couch with soft brown sprays? He notes not how the living water shines, Trembling along the cliff, a flickering haze, Brimming a wine-bright pool, nor lifts his gaze To read the ancient wonders and the signs. Does he possess the actual, or do I, Who paint on air more than his sense receives, The glittering pine-tufts with closed eyes behold, Breathe the strong resinous perfume, see the sky Quiver like azure flame between the leaves, And open unseen gates with key of gold?            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "City Visions" was published in The Poems of Emma Lazarus (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888).   Emma Lazarus was born in New York City in 1849. Her books of poetry include Admetus and Other Poems (Hurd and Houghton, 1871) and The Poems of Emma Lazarus (Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1888). She died in 1887.   Engraving by T. Johnson, 1872. Courtesy of The New York Historical Society. Poetry by Lazarus   The Poems of Emma Lazarus (Dover Thrift Editions, 2015) "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson "Wall Street at Night" by Lola Ridge "Feed Me, Also, River God" by Marianne Moore Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. If you enjoy Poem-a-Day, please consider making a donation to help make it possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038