Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman

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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.

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