“THE FLOWER OF CITIES ALL”: POETIC CHRONICLES
OF LONDON LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION Cover Image

“THE FLOWER OF CITIES ALL”: POETIC CHRONICLES OF LONDON LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION
“THE FLOWER OF CITIES ALL”: POETIC CHRONICLES OF LONDON LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION

Author(s): Elena Nistor
Subject(s): Poetry
Published by: Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti
Keywords: feminisation of the city; history; identity; London; metropolitanism; rebirth;

Summary/Abstract: A distinctive feature of poetry written in the UK is the attraction to Londoncas the place of infinite possibilities enhancing mental versatility and emotional metamorphosis. Aware of its inimitable diversity, numerous poets have explored their polyvalent relationship with the insular city from the beginnings of ancient Londinium to the 21st-century metropolis. In the 16th century, Scottish poet William Dunbar acknowledged the birth of a global hub, “the flour of Cities all” where urban identities defined in an exhilarating play of likeness and difference. Five centuries later,Irishman Louis MacNeice reconsidered the metaphor from a negative perspective,contemplating the decay of the unique capital drained by extreme materialism and two worldwide conflicts. As history has established the huge conurbation as a symbol of strength and continuity deriving from its extraordinary capacity of renewal,Jamaican-born poet James Berry praises the multicultural capital and its unrepressed vitality in the Third Millennium.

  • Issue Year: VII/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 107-113
  • Page Count: 7
  • Language: English