ON this day of brightest dawning, Underneath each spreading awning, Sheltered from the sun's fierce ray, Come, and let us saunter gayly With the crowd whose footsteps, daily, Wear the sidewalks of Broadway. Leave the proof-sheets and the printer Till the duller days of winter, Till some dark December day; Better than your lucubrations Are the vivid inspirations You can gather in Broadway! Tell me not, in half-derision, Of your Boulevards Parisian, With their brilliant broad @3pavés,@1 Still for us the best is nearest, And the last love is the dearest, And the Queen of Streets—Broadway! Here, beneath bewitching bonnets, Sparkle eyes to kindle sonnets, Charms, each worth a lyric lay; Ah! what bright, untold romances Linger in the radiant glances Of the beauties of Broadway! All the fairer, that so fleeting Is the momentary meeting, That our footsteps may not stay; While, each passing form replacing, Swift the waves of life are chasing Down the channels of Broadway! Motley as the masqueraders Are the jostling promenaders, In their varied, strange display; Here an instant, only, blending, Whither are their footsteps tending As they hasten through Broadway? Some to garrets and to cellars, Crowded with unhappy dwellers; Some to mansions, rich and gay, Where the evening's mirth and pleasure Shall be fuller, in their measure, Than the turmoil of Broadway! Yet were once our mortal vision Blest with quicker intuition, We should shudder with dismay To behold what shapes are haunting Some, who seem most gayly flaunting, On the sidewalks of Broadway! For, beside the beggar cheerless, And the maiden gay and fearless, And the old man worn and gray, Swift and viewless, waiting never, Still the Fates are gliding ever, Stern and silent, through Broadway! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FRAGMENTS INTENDED FOR DEATH'S JEST-BOOK: A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES DOUGLAS, DOUGLAS, TENDER AND TRUE by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK A BED OF FORGET-ME-NOTS by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI KENTUCKY BELLE by CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON I DID NOT ASK OF LIFE by ALICE BAKER LANGUID SEPTEMBER by ANNE MILLAY BREMER |