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Poem by Matthew Arnold


West London


Crouch'd on the pavement close by Belgrave Square
A tramp I saw, ill, moody, and tongue-tied;
A babe was in her arms, and at her side
A girl; their clothes were rags, their feet were bare.
Some labouring men, whose work lay somewhere there,
Pass'd opposite; she touch'd her girl, who hied
Across, and begg'd and came back satisfied.
The rich she had let pass with frozen stare.
Thought I: Above her state this spirit towers;
She will not ask of aliens, but of friends,
Of sharers in a common human fate.
She turns from that cold succour, which attneds
The unknown little from the unknowing great,
And points us to a better time than ours. 



Matthew Arnold

Poem Themes: London, Cities of England

Matthew Arnold's other poems:
  1. The Church of Brou
  2. East and West
  3. A Picture at Newstead
  4. Requiescat
  5. The Good Shepherd with the Kid


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