City Roofs

City Roofs

by Charles Hanson Towne

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. 

Roof-tops, roof-tops, O what sin you're knowing, 

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. 

Roof-tops, roof-tops, cover up their shame -- 

Wretched souls, prisoned souls too piteous to name; 

Man himself hath built you all to hide away the stars -- 

Roof-tops, roof-tops, you hide ten million scars. 

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 -- 

Patient wives, and tenderness, forgiveness, faith, and pity. 

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! 

In my narrative, "We are But Clowns", I explore the idea that the injustice of animal cruelty often goes unnoticed because appearances are very different from reality. The piece is centered around the fact that many people, oblivious to the cruel conditions that circus animals such as elephants are forced to live under, regard the circus as joyful and carefree. Little do they know that they enjoy the show at the expense of these animals' livelihoods, and quite possibly, lives. The circus, which expertly deceives the audiences by using attractive colors, music, and astounding performances, is able to continue and keep most people blind to their unethical practices, a saddening fact. To the circus impresarios, the cruel confinement and "training" of elephants are simply means to earn profit, as long as their dark secrets are not revealed. Thus, the audience lives under the illusion that the circus is a happy place, when in reality, the brightly colored roof hides so much pain and abuse, both physical and mental, that the enslaved animals endure daily. The theme that appearances are very different from reality is reinforced by the recurring motif of the clowns, a common symbol for feigning lightheartedness and humor to hide pain. Like the circus elephants, they entertain their audiences and must adopt public identities that are very different from who they really are, for they too are people and have their own lives, passions, and pains. I make this connection clear at the conclusion of the narrative, when I make a drawing of an elephant whose face has been painted as a clown. Audiences view circus elephants simply as entertainers, as clowns, but are blind to the injustice and cruelty behind the scenes.

Similarly, in "City Roofs", poet Charles Hanson Towne suggests that most of what happens in the world, both good and bad, is hidden because people build up barriers to hide their struggles. The roof-tops of a sleeping city give the illusion that the city is peaceful, when in reality, they hide the tragedies and pain in the lives of the people beneath, but at the same time also the "tenderness,/ forgiveness, faith, and pity" that still lives on alongside the pain. Beneath the roof-tops of the city reside a wide range of people, from wretched souls to patient wives, with very different backgrounds, who know virtually nothing of each other's lives. People build these roofs for privacy of their own accord, which is what the author meant by "Man himself hath built you all/ to hide away the stars". An instance of this discussed in my narrative is that of the circus. The red and white striped roof, another motif, represents the effort that the circus makes to keep its mistreatment of elephants under cover, for it profits off the audience's oblivion. However, this is but one example of a general human inclination for secrecy. Everyone has regrets, sins, and dark elements of their pasts that they wish to keep in the shadows, and thus we can never really see what happens beneath the roof-tops of our world.