City of Orgies

CITY 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.