A London Symphony

A London Symphony (1993)

It was such a familiar sound
I had heard it often, earlier today in fact
When I passed through Parliament Square.
I passed in bright sunshine and hardly noticed
That slow hollow chime above the cacophony
Of traffic and running feet.
Though it arrested my attention monetarily
I soon forgot about it.

Later at night, and at home
I turned on my radio at random
In the middle of 'A London Symphony'
And heard those very same notes
The three quarter hour rippling across the Thames
Spanning 80 or so years.
But what I heard in the music
Was no more than an echo
Of the moment Vaughan Williams stood on the Embankment
And committed that phrase to paper.
And I thought, 'What momentous events are contained
Between these two incidences
These bookends to our century.
This sound, this shared experience we both made a note of.

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