Marbaniang, Domenic

O. Henry's short story, "The Voice of the City", published in a compendium of the same name (1919) is a stunning tale spun from the meticulous spindle of the poetic heart. It is a heart that can gaze through the apparent indifference of the city and discover in its soul the romantic song of the lovebird. William Sidney Porter shocks us with phrases such as "the best bartender in the diocese" and "the spiel limit", for sure; but, there is nothing more surprising than the sudden epigram at the end of a much expected climax. The story writer searches for the voice of New York city. To the bartender, his question is, "doesn't the gab of it [the city] seem to kind of bunch up and slide over the bar to you in a sort of amalgamated tip that hits off the burg in a kind of an epigram with a dash of bitters and a slice of—" To the cop, he says, "let me ask you. You see New York during its vocative hours. It is the function of you and your brot...