Beneath the summer sky

Like many I'm sure ... been thinking of London all day today.
 
I visit London a lot, for both work and family reasons - I love it (always have) and, for me, it's unquestionably one of the most diverse, friendly & beautiful cities I know ...

... 10-years ago on this very day, I was on holiday in Belfast when we heard the news; having earlier spent the years between 1981 and 1984 living in Northern Ireland - today; my thoughts have been with all those affected by violence.

So; here's a poem about London in July, by Amy Levy:


London In July

What ails my senses thus to cheat?
What is it ails the place,
That all the people in the street
Should wear one woman's face?

The London trees are dusty-brown
Beneath the summer sky;
My love, she dwells in London town,
Nor leaves it in July.

O various and intricate maze,
Wide waste of square and street;
Where, missing through unnumbered days,
We twain at last may meet!

And who cries out on crowd and mart?
Who prates of stream and sea?
The summer in the city's heart--
That is enough for me.                         

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Amy Levy (1861 – 1889)

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