Alma Mater

Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)



A haunted town thou art to me.
-- Andrew Lang

To-day in Florence all the air
Is soft with spring, with sunlight fair;
In the tall street gay folks are met;
Duomo and Tower gleam overhead,
Like jewels in the city set,
Fair-hued and many-faceted.
Against the old grey stones are piled
February violets, pale and sweet,
Whose scent of earth in woodland wild
Is wafted up and down the street.
The city's heart is glad ; my own
Sits lightly on its bosom's throne.

* * * * * * *

Why is it that I see to-day,
Imaged as clear as in a dream,
A little city far away,
A churlish sky, a sluggish stream,
Tall clust'ring trees and gardens fair,
Dark birds that circle in the air,
Grey towers and fanes ; on either hand,
Stretches of wind-swept meadow-land?

* * * * * * *

Oh, who can sound the human breast?
And this strange truth must be confessed;
That city do I love the best
Wherein my heart was heaviest!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
95

Quick analysis:

Scheme XX AABXBXCDCDEE FGFGAAHH IIIX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 876
Words 175
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 2, 12, 1, 8, 1, 4

Amy Levy

Amy Levy was a British essayist, poet, and novelist best remembered for her feminist positions and her homosexual romances during the Victorian era. more…

All Amy Levy poems | Amy Levy Books

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