 | Leaves of grass. |  |
18.
CITY of my walks and joys!
City whom that I have lived and sung there will one
day make you illustrious,
Not the pageants of you—not your shifting tab-
leaux, 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 win-
dows, with goods in them,
Nor to converse with learned persons, or bear my
share in the soiree or feast;
Not those—but, as I pass, O Manhattan! your fre-
quent and swift flash of eyes offering me love,
Offering me the response of my own—these repay
me,
Lovers, continual lovers, only repay me.
City whom that I have lived and sung there will one
day make you illustrious,
Not the pageants of you—not your shifting tab-
leaux, 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 win-
dows, with goods in them,
Nor to converse with learned persons, or bear my
share in the soiree or feast;
Not those—but, as I pass, O Manhattan! your fre-
quent and swift flash of eyes offering me love,
Offering me the response of my own—these repay
me,
Lovers, continual lovers, only repay me.
| Leaves of grass. | |