I love the old melodious lays
Which softly melt the ages through,
The songs of Spenser’s golden days,
Arcadian Sidney’s silver phrase,
Sprinkling on our noon of time with freshest morning dew.

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), “Proem”

[Gregg LeFevre Signature]

The Library Walk, is a venture launched in 1996 by the New York Public Library, Grand Central Partnership and New Yorker Magazine, in which are embedded in bronze plaques quotes from well-known books, or those dealing with books and literature. The panels designed by artist Gregg LeFevre were laid in 1998 from the New York Public Library building along 41st Street.

The plaque shows the first verse of a poem by the American poet who was very active in the struggle to abolish slavery in the United States.

The plaque shows wooden leaves that express the last line in the quote.