City of Orgies
City of Orgies - context Summary
Manhattan in Leaves of Grass
This short poem from Leaves of Grass names New York (Manhattan) as a living scene whose true value for Whitman is not its spectacles, buildings, or social gatherings but the spontaneous human connections he encounters. Whitman emphasizes fleeting, reciprocal glances and continual lovers as the city’s real recompense, reflecting his democratic sensuality and the poet’s lived experience of urban vitality and intimacy.
Read Complete AnalysesCITY of orgies, walks and joys! City whom that I have lived and sung in your midst will one day make you illustrious, Not the pageants of you—not your shifting tableaux, your spectacles, repay me; Not the interminable rows of your houses—nor the ships at the wharves, Nor the processions in the streets, nor the bright windows, with goods in them; Nor to converse with learn’d persons, or bear my share in the soiree or feast; Not those—but, as I pass, O Manhattan! your frequent and swift flash of eyes offering me love, Offering response to my own—these repay me; Lovers, continual lovers, only repay me.
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