N. Y.



My City, my beloved, my white! Ah, slender,
Listen! Listen to me, and I will breathe into thee a soul.
Delicately upon the reed, attend me!

Now do I know that I am mad,
For here are a million people surly with traffic;
This is no maid.
Neither could I play upon any reed if I had one.

My City, my beloved,
Thou art a maid with no breasts,
Thou art slender as a silver reed.
Listen to me, attend me!
And I will breathe into thee a soul,
And thou shalt live for ever.

Font size:
Collection       
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

29 sec read
819

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABC XXXX XXXCBA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 461
Words 97
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 3, 4, 6

Ezra Pound

 · 1885 · Hailey, Idaho
 · 1972 · Venice

Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic of the early modernist movement. more…

All Ezra Pound poems | Ezra Pound Books

42 fans

Discuss the poem N. Y. with the community...

3 Comments
  • Shocam
    Nothing like the home town.
    LikeReply4 months ago
  • devparth9784
    good one
    LikeReply6 months ago
  • Eddo
    I love the way the corner bodega smelt on a hot 1986,87 night with me and my guys takin turns liftin up the fire hydrant.. free car washes and water park, no care in the world. wish i could smell those smells one more time! 
    LikeReply6 months ago

Translation

Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Citation

Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"N. Y." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 20 Jan. 2025. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/13302/n.-y.>.

Become a member!

Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

January 2025

Poetry Contest

Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
11
days
15
hours
10
minutes

Special Program

Earn Rewards!

Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

Quiz

Are you a poetry master?

»
Which poet wrote Canterbury Tales?
A Dante
B Geoffrey Chaucer
C John Milton
D Sappho