hanging with the cycle.
Now the light'ning wires unite her
With the world in speedy transit;
The "Kentucky News" informs her,
Of the moving scenes about her,
Links her name with sister cities,
In the tie of common welfare,
Wafts her praises to the public,
Casts her errors on the waters.
Her rejoicings and enjoyments,
Scarce know pause or diminution,
And the Cornet Band musicians,
(J. P. Sandifer, the leader),
Serve the city's gala seasons,
Furnish melody in numbers.
All along the panorama
Of her shiftings and adventures,
Are peculiar memoranda,
Dotting, here and there, the margin.
Now the "Red Stars" have a meeting,
With their weird, uncanny customs;
Now the "Knights of Pythias" cluster
'Round a shrine of secret magic;
Now the "Eastern Star" is dawning,
With its cabalistic mottoes;
Now the "Julipeans" revel
'Neath the awnings on the greensward,
With their mighty dignitaries,
With Sockdologers, Sapsuckers,
With their Knockemstiffs, Lawgivers,
With their Orators and Wise-Men,
With their visitors and laymen--
All their corps of jolly members
'Neath the cooling, woodland shelter.
Strange societies and groupings,
Hidden wonders and dark missions,
Items fanciful and puzzling,
Dot the margin hither, thither,
Of the shifting panorama.
Change and progress rule the city,
Tearing loose her timeworn moorings;
Now Excelsior, the watchword,
Leads her prow forever onward;
Now her streets are all encumbered
With the architect's essentials;
Now the rubbish from the burning,
From the third great fire that swept her,
On the first evening in April,
Gathers in the northwest corner;
And this row of ancient houses,
Numbered with the things of yore,
Soon will rise again to greet us,
Soon resound with plane and trowel.
All the city's luckless harbors
Shall revive with added grandeur;[11]
Now her handsome jail and court-house,
Her new halls and spacious churches,
Her improved suburban dwellings,
And her central, model buildings,
All betray the stride of fortune,
All betray the march of knowledge;
And the crumbling hall of science,
The Academy of Garrard,
Wears a modern dress and fashion,
On the old revered foundation;
New red brick and glossy mouldings
Now invite th' aspiring student;
No more ancient hallowed landmarks,
Linger now to move the tear-drop;
Yet a classic aura gather