Aesthetics of the Asylum
The sober reality
Was a double line of orphans in blue smocks
Marching above the blue river
Under the smoky eye of winter.
It is possible to envy them;
The picture of which they formed a part
Was so well composed,
In shades of blue and smoke
And the dull brick red of the asylum walls;
How orderly and tranquil the effect
Of the wintry ranks of children
Under the silent sky.
Copyright Credit: Constance Urdang, “Aesthetics of the Asylum” from Only the World. Copyright � 1983. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Used by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Source: Only the World (1983)