New-York tribune., 1885-09-13
THE NEW.yo6KCR THAT WALRx

Whereabouts do the young people OF the me
tropolis do their pleasure-walking nowadaysf II
Leander of Brooklyn has an engagement with
Hero, the well-known belle of st. this side
the stream TO go promenading with
her ono Of these fair autumn afternoons.
in what portion Of town shall we look for them
1t is Ger ain that they and their fellow idle and
happy pedestrians will not be found treadng tine
paths which their fathers and mothers favored IN
the near past Hero and Leander OF the fall Of 1850
will be met with in Central Park or on Fifth-ave.
or on upper Broadway or on Madison-aye or on
Union Square, OF possibly, since Leauder is no
longer compelled TO swim the local Hellespont
when he would a-wooing go, on the Brooklyn
Bridge.
these were not the pleasant places that knew
the young men and maidens of the genera
ton lust behind n. j. Willis, who
had n deep and genuine love for New
York and frequently celebrated her iasci-
nations in his buoyant. sparkling verse. has left
behind him poem indicating the route taken by
a pair of metropolitan lovers VINO went walking
something less than fifty years ago. Half cen-
tury is not great while the long lives OF great
cities 60 but venture TO assert that few OF the
young people who will be ont taking their favorite
walk to-day will understand the special allusions
in the poem. Certainly mono of them will be apt
A CITY LYRIC.
ArqumenL-The poet starts from the Bowling Green
10 take sweetheart to IhOmpsons for an lee or
Nf she Is Inclined for more ices. He confines his muse
may In taking the same promenade Tor the same
innocent refreshnent
Come ont, love- the night Ia enchanting!
The moon hangs just over broadway;
The stars are all lighted ana painting
IT'S seldom that - coolness entices,
Ana love better for chilling,
But come up TO ThOmpsOu's Tor Ices,
And cool your warm heart for shilling.
Wlnt perfume comes balmily o'cr usi
Mint iulcps from city HOTEL
lOafer Is smoking bnfore us
"a nasty cigar by the smell
Oh Woman thou secret past knowing
You breathe every air that Is going;
Yet gather but sweetness from all
On, onl by st. Paurs and the Astori
Religion seems very i-plannedi
For Que day list t0 the pastor
For ak days VIC list 10 the band
The sermon may dwell on the future
The organ your pulses may caln-
When-pest THAT reHempered cacbuca
Upsets both the sermon aud psalml
Oh pity the love that must utter
While goes swift omnibus by
Though sweet is scream when tho nutter
or fans shows Thermometers high
Bat N what bawl or mutter
Falls into your ear but TO die.
Oh, the dew that falls In tue gutter
Is not more unhappy than II
.Ouery-should this be Ice scream =
If7Hter's Dtrh
This IS not an altogether satisfactory lyric There
is an oyer-gcncrous use of the exclamation point,
while the pun which is put into the mouth OF the
"devil belongs to n crude state of the art But as
n photograph OF New-York promenade taken long
back, in 1910 say, it is decidedly interesting In
that era Hero dwelt on or hard by Bowling q cen
aud it was the thing for her and Leander-who in
this case was a poetic saunter from Bowling
Green 10 Broadway and to sannter up Broad
way to the Astor House and beyond
That much the current young promenaders can
! understand. But where, o where, was Thompsons
-rhonpsons with pi How far up Broad way did
the couple that started from Bowling Green proceed