Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE STREETS, by JOHN FREEMAN Poet's Biography First Line: Marlboro' and waterloo and trafalgar Last Line: Caught by sharp roofs in a narrow net of sky. Subject(s): Childhood Memories; Children; War; Childhood | ||||||||
MARLBORO' and Waterloo and Trafalgar, Tuileries, Talavera, Valenciennes, Were strange names all, and all familiar; For down their streets I went, early and late (Is there a street where I have never been Of all those hundreds, narrow, skyless, straight?) Early and late, they were my woods and meadows; The rain upon their dust my summer smell; Their scant herb and brown sparrows and harsh shadows Were all my spring. Was there another spring? I knew their noisy desolation well, Drinking it up as a child drinks everything, Knowing no other world than brick and stone, With one rich memory of the earth all bright. Now all is fallen into oblivion All that I was, in years of school and play, Things that I hated, things that were delight, Are all forgotten, or shut all away Behind a creaking door that opens slow. But there's a child that walks those streets of war, Hearing his running footsteps as they go Echoed from house to house, and wondering At Marlboro', Waterloo and Trafalgar; And at night, when the yellow gas lamps fling Unsteady shadows, singing for company; Yet loving the lighted dark, and any star Caught by sharp roofs in a narrow net of sky. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE |
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