strangely, beautifully, wonderfully full of memories of church. I think
that it is the echo of old hymns that I catch in his poetry. Biblical
they are, in their simplicity, Christian until they drip with love.


CHRIST AND THE CITY SOUL

I think that no Christian poet has so caught the soul of the real city.
One phrase that links Christ with the city is the old-fashioned yet
ever thrilling phrase, "The Soul of the City Receives the Gift of the
Holy Spirit."

An electrical sign suggests prayer to him. It is a unique thought in "A
Rhyme About An Electrical Advertising Sign," the lines of which startle
one almost with their newness:

"Some day this old Broadway shall climb to the skies,
As a ribbon of cloud on a soul-wind shall rise.
And we shall be lifted rejoicing by night,
Till we join with the planets who choir their delight.
The signs in the street and the signs in the skies
Shall make a new Zodiac guiding the wise,
And Broadway make one, with that marvelous stair
That is climbed by the rainbow-clad spirits of prayer."

The Congo.

He looks straight up above the signs to heaven. But he does not forget
to look down also, where the people are, the folks that walk and live
and crawl under the electric signs. In "Galahad, Knight Who Perished"