C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

W. P. Bourke

CHERRY VALLEY’S finest raiment—

Quaint, yet beautiful to see—

Rightly decks its fairest claiment

To sweet femininity.

Miss New York, au fait in fashion,

Smiles at Cherry Valley’s gown—

Smile half envy, half compassion—

When my cousin comes to town.

Miles on miles of streets of shopping;

How she revels in the sights!

Every window finds her stopping

To examine its delights.

And I join in her inspection,

For two sparkling eyes of brown

Show in the plate-glass reflection

When my cousin comes to town.

If she warms about the city

In her healthy, happy way,

Miss New York politely witty

Is about her naïveté.

But to men, such girlish rapture

Is a far from common noun,

And each day shows some fresh capture

When my cousin comes to town.

Goes the maid to Seidl’s, Sousa’s,

Horse Show, Metropolitan—

Over each one she enthuses

As but Cherry Valley can.

Is it strange when breezes waft her

Homeward, sorrow weighs me down?

I am “broke” for six weeks after,

When my cousin comes to town.