Love
City of Orgies
From Leaves of Grass
City of orgies, walks and joys,
City whom that I have lived and sung in your midst will one day make
Not the pageants of you, not your shifting tableaus, 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.
Cite this poem
MLA
Whitman, Walt. “City of Orgies.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/whitman/56/.
Chicago
Whitman, Walt. “City of Orgies.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/whitman/56/.
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