Walter Learned (Уолтер Лирнед)
In London Town
It is not here I best enjoy The pleasure, that can never cloy, Of idly roaming London town, Where such familiar names look down Upon the wanderer in the street, From Cheapside, Cornhill, and the Fleet. The noisy, pushing, bustling crowd, The din of trade and traffic loud, Confuse the too bewildered sense And drive a thousand memories hence. When in the quiet town once more, Where not a murmur of the roar Of busy trade or loud displays Disturb the quiet of her ways, Backward my soul will turn and then Will walk these London streets again; While wits and poets of years gone by, Who now in dim cathedrals lie, Will meet me where their memories make The places dearer for their sake — And with their shades perchance a few Of living forms shall mingle too. So, often when the daylight dies, Shall I at evcning close my eyes To walk again the Strand, the Fleet, And every dear familiar street, And, undisturbed by din or roar, Find every house and nook once more. My London, which I carry west, Is peopled only by her best.
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