Classic Poem

Now Broadway is an excellent street to a heart for folly yearning;
Fifth Avenue is clad in silk and cultured and sedate;
A million and one are welcome indeed to homeward feet returning—
But the finest of all is an old-time street that lies by the city gate.

It lolls about in a leisurely way though thick with traffic teeming,
Close to its bosom it holds the docks where deep sea steamers lie,
And lumbering men with rolling step, and eyes of distant dreaming
Wander its length and talk strange talk to the wonder of passers-by.

There are queer old shops, and curious things from the windows hail you greeting—
Fifth Avenue has shops, of course, but none as quaint as these,
And where on Broadway is there to find though long your glance or fleeting
So many things that smack of the salt and the far-off travelled seas?

There's a tarry smell, a wanderlust smell, and whenever the wind is blowing
The perfume of the open sea comes pungent on the air;
And staid old buildings watch with the eyes of dignity the going
And coming of ships and of sailor men from the harbours of everywhere.

And Broadway is an excellent street to a heart for folly yearning;
Fifth Avenue is clad in silk and walks with grace and ease;
And hundreds of streets are welcome indeed to homeward feet returning—
But the finest of all is the old-time street that leads to the Seven Seas.