The city and the sea



I

To none the city bends a servile knee;
 Purse-proud and scornful, on her heights she stands,
And at her feet the great white moaning sea
 Shoulders incessantly the grey-gold sands,--
One the Almighty's child since time began,
 And one the might of Mammon, born of clods;
For all the city is the work of man,
 But all the sea is God's.

II

And she--between the ocean and the town--
 Lies cursed of one and by the other blest:
Her staring eyes, her long drenched hair, her gown,
 Sea-laved and soiled and dank above her breast.
She, image of her God since life began,
 She, but the child of Mammon, born of clods,
Her broken body spoiled and spurned of man,
 But her sweet soul is God's.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
111

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCBCD EFEFCBCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 694
Words 130
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8

Emily Pauline Johnson

Emily Pauline Johnson Tekahionwake commonly known as E Pauline Johnson or just Pauline Johnson was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century Pauline Johnson was notable for her poems and performances that celebrated her aboriginal heritage One such poem is the frequently anthologized The Song My Paddle Sings Her poetry was published in Canada the United States and Great Britain Johnson was one of a generation of widely read writers who began to define a Canadian national literature more…

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