| Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Second Book of Modern Verse. 1922. |
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| City Roofs |
| | | Charles Hanson Towne |
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| ROOF-TOPS, roof-tops, what do you cover? | |
| Sad folk, bad folk, and many a glowing lover; | |
| Wise people, simple people, children of despair— | |
| Roof-tops, roof-tops, hiding pain and care. | |
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| Roof-tops, roof-tops, O what sin you’re knowing, | 5 |
| While above you in the sky the white clouds are blowing; | |
| While beneath you, agony and dolor and grim strife | |
| Fight the olden battle, the olden war of Life. | |
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| Roof-tops, roof-tops, cover up their shame— | |
| Wretched souls, prisoned souls too piteous to name; | 10 |
| Man himself hath built you all to hide away the stars— | |
| Roof-tops, roof-tops, you hide ten million scars. | |
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| Roof-tops, roof-tops, well I know you cover | |
| Many solemn tragedies and many a lonely lover; | |
| But ah, you hide the good that lives in the throbbing city— | 15 |
| Patient wives, and tenderness, forgiveness, faith, and pity. | |
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| Roof-tops, roof-tops, this is what I wonder: | |
| You are thick as poisonous plants, thick the people under; | |
| Yet roofless, and homeless, and shelterless they roam, | |
| The driftwood of the town who have no roof-top and no home! | 20 |
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