All things must fade. There is for cities tall The same tomorrow as for daffodils: Time's wind, that casts the seed, the petal spills. Grim London's ruined arches yet shall fall Back to the arms of Earth. A quiet pall The mother draws over those she loves--and kills; And though brief nations vaunt their upstart wills, The nemesis of grass shall...Learn More

In her grey majesty of ancient stone She queens it proudly, though the sun's caress Her piteous cheeks, ravished of bloom, confess, And her dark eyes his bridegroom glance have know. Robed in her flowing parks, serene, alone, She fronts the east; and with the tropic stress Her smooth brow ripples into weariness; Yet hers the sea for footstool, and...Learn More

I thought, because we had been friends so long, That I knew all your dear lips dared intend Before they dawned to speech. Our thoughts would blend, I dreamed, like memories that faintly throng. Your voice dwelt in me like an olden song. Petal, I thought, from petal I could rend The blossom of your soul, and at the end Find still the same sweet...Learn More

One moment mankind rides the crested wave, A moment glorious, beyond recall; And then the wave, with slow and massive fall, Obliterates the beauty that it gave. When discrowned king and manumitted slave Are free and equal to be slaves of all, Democracies in their wide freedom brawl, And go down shouting to a common grave. So one by one the petals...Learn More

Last night beneath the mockery of the moon I heard the sudden startled whisperings Of wakened birds settling their restless wings; The North-east brought his word of gladness, "Soon!" And all the night with wonder was a-swoon. A soul had breathed into long-dreaming things; Some unseen hand hovered above the strings: Some cosmic chord had set the...Learn More

She lies, a grave disdain all her defence, Too imperturbable for scorn. She hears Only the murmur of the flowing years That thunder slowly on her shores immense And ebb away in moaning impotence. Giants enduring, she and Time are peers-- Her dream-hazed eyes knowing no hopes, no tears, Her glance a langour-lidded insolence. And though the rabble of...Learn More