The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
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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 tableaus, your specta- cles, 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. |