| Christmas in the Quarter |
From "New Orleans Holiday" by Eleanor Early:
There are some cities that resemble women in one way or another, you
remember the quote, 'Paris is a woman with flowers in her hair.' I've always felt
that if there is any town that could be described as a woman, it's old New Orleans.
There's a poem I like that could have easily been written about that city:
I like a city that is worn and old,
Where stones are hollowed by the press of feet,
Where gables sag and open doorways hold
A store of legends; where a narrow street
Will twist and turn before me leisurely,
And windows stare at me like tired eyes.
I know these cities and I love them well
Because they seem to me
Like a woman who may grow more feeble as she ages,
And yet is wise...
Perhaps, with nothing much to do,
But with much to tell.
New Orleans was founded by Latins and the colonizers left their everlasting marks
on her. People are always falling in love with the city. She flaunts both her beauty
and her sense of humor and views the minor vices with Gallic tolerance. She is no
better, perhaps, than she should be, but she is merry and wise, and she has a chic
that most American cities will never know.
She has survived Yellow Fever and fires and floods, and if she had not the fatal
gift of lasting beauty, she, perhaps, would not have survived at all.
Poets and artists and dreamers have loved New Orleans. They will go on loving
her because she is mellow and tender and kind.
There are some cities that resemble women in one way or another, you
remember the quote, 'Paris is a woman with flowers in her hair.' I've always felt
that if there is any town that could be described as a woman, it's old New Orleans.
There's a poem I like that could have easily been written about that city:
I like a city that is worn and old,
Where stones are hollowed by the press of feet,
Where gables sag and open doorways hold
A store of legends; where a narrow street
Will twist and turn before me leisurely,
And windows stare at me like tired eyes.
I know these cities and I love them well
Because they seem to me
Like a woman who may grow more feeble as she ages,
And yet is wise...
Perhaps, with nothing much to do,
But with much to tell.
New Orleans was founded by Latins and the colonizers left their everlasting marks
on her. People are always falling in love with the city. She flaunts both her beauty
and her sense of humor and views the minor vices with Gallic tolerance. She is no
better, perhaps, than she should be, but she is merry and wise, and she has a chic
that most American cities will never know.
She has survived Yellow Fever and fires and floods, and if she had not the fatal
gift of lasting beauty, she, perhaps, would not have survived at all.
Poets and artists and dreamers have loved New Orleans. They will go on loving
her because she is mellow and tender and kind.
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| Photos on this page are courtesy of: l.e.o., JustAnUptownGirl, DoctorWho, NOLA.com, and my e-friend, Rosa Hayden. |
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