That mighty heart

[shewhomust]

Last time I looked at my friends page, before I went away for a flying visit to family in London and around, there was a meme: post a poem in your LJ. (From memory, that'd be via sovay and rushthatspeaks). So one of the things I thought about on the long drive south was, if I were to post a poem, which one would it be?

Well, neither of these: but back home, busy with catching up and full of things to say, many of them about London, here are a couple of poems that between them catch some of my ambivalence about the city.

Upon Westminster Bridge
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

William Wordsworth

Celia Celia
When I am sad and weary
When I feel all hope has gone
When I walk along High Holborn
I think of you with nothing on

Adrian Mitchell

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a website and a pan of quinces to attend to.