Friday, October 12, 2012

James Lindsay Gordon 1860 - 1904

James Lindsay Gordon - 1860 / 1904


On the Tenth Floor

Vain longings for the green fields and the sea,
For the old sense of loneliness and peace,
Come amid City sounds that never cease -
Tumult of trade and traffic under me.
High overhead the sweet, keen, windless day. -
Air clear and pure and sky without a stain : -
Beneath, the ebb and flow of loss and gain
Amid the unending clangor of Broadway.

Here between peace above and strife below,
My soul is like a captive bird whose wings
Beat time to the disconsolate song it sings,
Whose sadness only prisoned souls can know, -
Wild with desire for unattainable things,
And chief of those is to take flight and go.



Elevated View Downtown NYC circa 1899 - Nassau and John St. "Sheldon Building" left of center