Ye flags of Piccadilly, <br />Where I posted up and down, <br />And wished myself so often <br />Well away from you and town-- <br /> <br />Are the people walking quietly <br />And steady on their feet, <br />Cabs and omnibuses plying <br />Just as usual in the street? <br /> <br />Do the houses look as upright <br />As of old they used to be, <br />And does nothing seem affected <br />By the pitching of the sea? <br /> <br />Through the Green Park iron railings <br />Do the quick pedestrians pass? <br />Are the little children playing <br />Round the plane-tree in the grass? <br /> <br />This squally wild northwester <br />With which our vessel fights, <br />Does it merely serve with you to <br />Carry up some paper kites? <br /> <br />Ye flags of Piccadilly, <br />Which I hated so, I vow <br />I could wish with all my heart <br />You were underneath me now!<br /><br />Arthur Hugh Clough<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ye-flags-of-picadilly/
