Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
London
As I came down the Highgate Hill, The Highgate Hill, the Highgate Hill, As I came down the Highgate Hill I met the suns bravado, And saw below me, fold on fold, Grey to pearl and pearl to gold, This London like a land of old, The land of Eldorado. Henry BashfordRomances.
Veni Gotham, ubi multos, Si non omnes, vidi stultos. I came to Gotham, where I saw many who were fools, if not all. Richard BrathwaitDrunken Barnabys Journal.
A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, Dirty and dusty, but as wide as eye Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping In sight, then lost amidst the forestry Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy; A huge, dun cupola, like a foolscap crown On a fools headand there is London Town. ByronDon Juan. Canto X. St. 82.
If the parks be the lungs of London we wonder what Greenwich Fair isa periodical breaking out, we supposea sort of spring rash. DickensGreenwich Fair.
London! the needy villains general home, The common sewer of Paris and of Rome! With eager thirst, by folly or by fate, Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state. Samuel JohnsonLondon. L. 93.
Then in town let me live, and in town let me die For I own I cant relish the country, not I. If I must have a villa in summer to dwell, Oh give me the sweet shady side of Pall Mall. Captain MorrisThe Contrast.
The way was long and weary, But gallantly they strode, A country lad and lassie, Along the heavy road. The night was dark and stormy, But blithe of heart were they, For shining in the distance The lights of London lay. O gleaming lights of London, that gem of the citys crown; What fortunes be within you, O Lights of London Town! George R. Sims. Song in Lights of London.