City Ballads

"City Ballads" by Will Carleton is a series of poems that shows what happens when people move from the countryside to the city. The poetry collection uses the stories of Arthur Selwyn, a new student, and Farmer Harrington, an older man, to look at city life. We learn about riches and poverty, goodness and badness, and many other things. The poems describe how the city seems exciting but also how hard it can be to find yourself when there are so many people. The poems make you think about what it means to be a person when surrounded by the greatness and struggles within a large city.