Classic Poem

The theaters are out, and on Broadway
Assembles now the midnight's motley show—
A moving panorama in the glow
Of myriad lamps that make a mimic day.
Here Wealth and Poverty together stray;
Here Virtue walks with Vice, and does not know;
And ever up and down the pavements go
The tireless actors of an endless play.

Serene above the busy whirl of life,
This human comedy, this rush and roar
And turmoil of interminable cars,
Like mute spectators of our mortal strife,
From their blue balconies forevermore
Look down in beauty the immortal stars.