| Hamilton Fish Armstrong, ed. The Book of New York Verse. 1917. | | | | Five Points, 1838 (extract from The Vision of Rubeta) | | By Laughton Osborn |
| | | FAST by the dike, where frown the granite eaves | |
| Of the huge dome Manhattan rears for thieves, | |
| A range of filthy dwelling houses stood, | |
| Fac’d with dull brick, and bridg’d with steps of wood. | |
| Here, in chalk’d spaces, seven feet by four, | 5 |
| Crowd various families a common floor; | |
| The night’s straw sack their musty couch by day, | |
| While on the loathsome plank their broken victuals lay. | |
| Dogs, cats, and children in one litter cry, | |
| And mud-cak’d pigs encroach upon the sty. | 10 |
| Without, all wreck and nastiness; within, | |
| Starvation, sickness, vermin, stench, and sin. | |
| Such hives as still are found, with ev’n less room, | |
| In Laurens Street, the southern side of Broom. | | | | |
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