Poetry · Chapter
Urbs Coronata explained
A song for the City College of New York, personifying New York as a young queen who rejects pride and fortresses, choosing instead a diadem of wisdom.
What happens
A song for the City College of New York, personifying New York as a young queen who rejects pride and fortresses, choosing instead a diadem of wisdom. The poem celebrates the building of a citadel of truth, a house of light, and a shrine of noble youth, urging the college towers to remember the hopes of the toiling town and become the city's crown.
Themes in this chapter
Duty and Patriotism
The city's dedication to building a citadel of truth and a shrine of noble youth reflects a sense of duty to education and civic pride.
The Pilgrimage of Life
The college towers are urged to look up and down, remembering the past and aspiring to become the city's crown, symbolizing a journey of growth and purpose.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The narrator personifies New York as a queen and addresses the City College towers.
Key passages
“Weave me no palace-wreath of Pride, Nor forge of frowning fortress-walls A helmet for my head; But let me wear a diadem Of Wisdom’s towers instead.”
Do not crown me with symbols of pride or military might; instead, let me be adorned with the towers of wisdom.
The city rejects vanity and war in favor of knowledge and education.
“She bowed herself, she spent herself, She wrought her will forsooth, And set upon her island height A citadel of Truth, A house of Light, a home of Thought, A shrine of noble Youth.”
The city humbly and tirelessly worked to build a fortress of truth, a place of enlightenment and thought, dedicated to noble youth.
Describes the founding of City College as a selfless act of creation.