Through this broad street, restless ever,
Ebbs and flows a human tide,
Wave on wave a living river;
Wealth and fashion side by side;
Toiler, idler, slave and master, in the same quick current glide.
Source: At Washington, st. 2.
-- John Greenleaf Whittier, (Dec 17 1807-1892), US poet, essayist; He was a popular rural poet, e.g., Barbara Frietchie, who devoted his life to social causes and reform.