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Maiden Lane

by Louise Morgan Sill, 1917

Down Maiden Lane, where clover grew,
  Sweet-scented in the early air,
Where sparkling rills went shining through
  Their grassy banks, so green, so fair,
Blithe little maids from Holland land
  Went tripping, laughing each to each,
To bathe the flax, or spread a band
  Of linen in the sun to bleach.

More than two centuries ago
  They wore this path—a maiden's lane—
Where now such waves of commerce flow
  As never dazed a burgher's brain.
Two hundred years ago and more
  Those thrifty damsels, one by one,
With plump, round arms their linen bore
  To dry in Mana-ha-ta's sun.

But now! Behold the altered view;
  No tender sward, no bubbling stream,
No laughter,—was it really true,
  Or but the fancy of a dream?
Were these harsh walls a byway sweet,
  This floor of stone a grassy plain?
Pray vanish, modern city street,
  And let us stroll down Maiden Lane.

Tags: dreams, landscapes

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