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A City's Death by Fire

A narrator writes by candlelight about a city destroyed by fire, recounting the rubble and collapsed buildings that now stand as "liars" on the streets. Although the sky is filled with smoke from the fire, the clouds are white and the hills in the distance offer renewal, like "a flock of faiths." The fire has brought both death and rebirth, like a "baptism", blessing the destruction it has wrought.

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182 views1 page

A City's Death by Fire

A narrator writes by candlelight about a city destroyed by fire, recounting the rubble and collapsed buildings that now stand as "liars" on the streets. Although the sky is filled with smoke from the fire, the clouds are white and the hills in the distance offer renewal, like "a flock of faiths." The fire has brought both death and rebirth, like a "baptism", blessing the destruction it has wrought.

Uploaded by

bhawana6rathi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A City's Death By Fire

 - Derek Walcott

After that hot gospeller has levelled all but the churched sky,
I wrote the tale by tallow of a city's death by fire;
Under a candle's eye, that smoked in tears, I
Wanted to tell, in more than wax, of faiths that were snapped like wire.
All day I walked abroad among the rubbled tales,
Shocked at each wall that stood on the street like a liar;
Loud was the bird-rocked sky, and all the clouds were bales
Torn open by looting, and white, in spite of the fire.
By the smoking sea, where Christ walked, I asked, why
Should a man wax tears, when his wooden world fails?
In town, leaves were paper, but the hills were a flock of faiths;
To a boy who walked all day, each leaf was a green breath
Rebuilding a love I thought was dead as nails,
Blessing the death and the baptism by fire.

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