John Stuart Blackie (1809-1895). VII. Berlin. Hunt and Lee, comps. 1867. The Book of the Sonnet

Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867.

VII. Berlin

By John Stuart Blackie (1809–1895)


STATUES on statues piled, and in the hand
Of each memorial man a soldier’s sword!
Fit emblem of a tame and subject land,
Mustered and marked by a drill-sergeant-lord.
And these long lines of formal streets, that go	5
In rank and file, by a great captain’s skill
Were marched into this cold and stately show,
Where public order palsies private will.
Order is strong; strong law the stars commands;
But birds by wings, and thought by freedom lives;	10
The crystalled stone compact and foursquare stands,
But man by surging self-born impulse strives.
Much have ye done, lords of exact Berlin,
But one thing fails,—the soul to your machine!