Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918.
By Arthur Adams140 . Fleet Street
B
Unruffled by the noise of feet,
Like a slow organ-note I hear
The pulses of the great world beat.
Through this aorta ever flow
The currents of the universe—
A thousand pulses throbbing low!
Unknown magicians sit within
Dim caves, and weave life into words
On patient looms that spin and spin.
Of mightier mechanic power,
Some bent, obscure Euripides
Builds the loud drama of the hour!
A thousand voices, passion-whirled,
With throats of steel vociferate
The incessant story of the world!
To age the tides of passion rage,
The swift historians of each day
Flinging a world upon a page!
Where cataracts of traffic spill
Their foam into the Circus. Lo!
Look up, the crown on Ludgate Hill!
In high, untroubled solitudes,
Like an old Buddha swathed in dream,
St. Paul’s above the city broods!