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