Original Poetry: The Belle of Broadway

P B¹

[Published² in the Broadway Journal,Mar 15, 1845 (1:11)]

[Edited and Annotated by Jessica Edwards for the University of Arizona Antebellum Magazine Edition Project, March 3, 2015.]

[Editor's Note]

 

She walks in the light of her beauty arrayed,

Like a queen by the hearts of a nation obeyed;

There’s a lustre³ around her, a splendor that vies

With the brightest of stars in the bluest of skies.

 

I’ve seen her at morning all laughing and gay,

With the step of a fairy bewitching Broadway;

I’ve seen her at evening all jewels and plumes,

Outflashing⁴ the gas in the brilliantest rooms.

 

They may talk of Circassia⁵ and sing of Cashmere⁶,

Where the maids are so fair and the shawls are so dear;

But for elegant figures deliciously drest,

The East cannot rival with our land of the West⁷. 

 

And the belle of all belles is the belle of Broadway;

She’s as plump as a Venus⁸ and light as a fay;

Her smile – Oh! what rapture its sweetness bestows,

While the blush of her cheek shames the blush of a rose!

 

If my pen were a diamond whose sparkles would flow

Like the lightning’s swift gleam to the paper below,

By the dazzle of words I might hope to convey

Some glance at the charms of the belle of Broadway.

 

But Sully⁹ himself would resign in despair

The pencil that pictures the fairest of fair,

Nor attempt in his exquisite style to pourtray 

The perfection of grace in the belle of Broadway!

417 Houston St., March 10.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              P.B.

 

Editor's Note

The article “Original Poetry: The Belle of Broadway” by P. B. was published in The Broadway Journal on March 15, 1845. This piece is a comment on the term “Belle of Broadway.” During this time period, this term was used as a title for women who lived lavish lifestyles in a way such that everyone else knew how luxurious their lives were. To the women of these lifestyles, the term was a sign of high praise, but other people were envious and/or disliked these women (The Belle…). The author places a twist on this term by using it to describe a woman for whom he has a high regard. He describes many traits that he admires about the woman, as well as compares her to places and other women. While his high praise for a “Belle of Broadway” woman steers away from its usual usage, the envious tones can be seen through the author’s comparisons between his subject and other women, such as the maids, and places, such as Circassia, Cashmere, and “the East.”