Ballade of Baker Street
Ballade of Baker Street is a poem written by Carolyn Wells published in Collier's on 15 august 1908.
Carolyn Wells wrote another similar poem in 1902 : A Ballade of Detection.
Poem
I've followed many a devious way,
I've traveled fast and traveled far ;
Beyond the night, across the day,
By many a mountain, lake, and scar.
'Neath ilex, palm, and deodar
I've viewed the homes of Fame's elite;
Ah, why does frowning Fortune bar
Those hallowed rooms in Baker Street?
There's Carlyle's house (you have to Pay),
Houses of Shakespeare, Poe, Legare;
There's Landor's at Fiesole,
And Some One's Villa at Dinard.
Nero's and Borgias' houses jar,
Though Baedekers their charms repeat;
They should note with a double star
Those hallowed rooms in Baker Street.
My eager quest I would not stay
For jeweled house of Alnaschar,
Diogenes' quaint tub of gray—
Historic Bough of old Omar—
Peterhof of the Russian Czar—
These were to me no special treat,
Could I but reach, by cab or car,
Those hallowed rooms in Baker Street.
L'ENVOI
Sherlock! My fondest wishes are
That on a day I yet may greet,
Haply in some far avatar,
Those hallowed rooms in Baker Street.
