Classic Poem

Traffic, to speak from knowledge but begun,
I saw, and travelling much, and fashion — Yea,
And if that Competition and Display
Make a great Capital, then thou art one,
One, it may be, unrivalled neath the Sun.
But sovereign symbol of the Great and Good,
True Royalty, and genuine Statesmanhood,
Nobleness, Learning, Piety was none.
If such realities indeed there are
Working within unsignified, 'tis well;
The stranger's fancy of the thing thou art
Is rather truly of a huge Bazaar,
A railway terminus, a gay Hotel,
Anything but a mighty Nation's heart.