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[Illustration]




A SOUVENIR OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY


Within the Golden Gate


BY

LAURA YOUNG PINNEY


ILLUSTRATED BY ELLA N. PIERCE


    SAN FRANCISCO:
    FROM THE PRESS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO PRINTING COMPANY
    411 MARKET STREET
    1893


Copyright 1893, by L. Y. PINNEY AND E. N. PIERCE

    HALF TONE ENGRAVINGS
    BY UNION PHOTO-ENGRAVING CO.




    [Illustration]

    AUTUMNAL skies were fair, and blue,
      And soft and mild the morning breeze;
    With sails unfurled--a joyous crew--
      We sought Pacific's tranquil seas,
          And entered there, a gate that stands,
          Unbarred to ships of many lands.

    And as we passed its portal grand,
      Our hearts were glad, our spirits light,
    And we rejoiced, and eager scanned
      The scenes that came before our sight.
          Near Alcatraz, an island bold,
          We paused to hear this story told:




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    GRIM Alcatraz! Thou sentinel
      That watch hath kept, thro' ages past,
    Over this shining way to sea,
      O where's the ship, with towering mast,
    That bore my loved one far from me?

    Thou sentry, with thy guarded wall,
      Thou saw'st him pass and sail away,
    To thread the trackless, distant sea.
      Where rides the good "St. George" to-day.
    That brings not back my love to me?

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    Care'st thou, that some, who pass thee by,
        In morning time, with laugh and song,
            With evening shades, return no more,
                Tho' sad ones count the hours so long,
                    And lone ones wait upon the shore?




    THE singer in a little boat,
        Whose snowy sail gleamed in the sun,
    Paused there, until the last fond note
        Was sung, then swiftly sped away,
                    Like some sweet bird whose plaintive cry
                    Ere pity wakes, hath soared on high.

    Our eyes then sought, thro' changing light,
        A distant mount's majestic form,
    'Twas Tamalpais, whose lofty height,
      Doth rise above the fog and storm;
    While, neath its brow fair valleys bloom,
    Untouched by frost or winter's gloom.




    FAR up the <DW72>s of Tamalpais,
        Within a shady nook,
        Was born a dainty brook.

    At birth of this new silvery stream
        The buds and blossoms smiled,
        And kissed the restless child,

    As forth it went with merry song,
        Upon a winding way,
        That thro' a sweet vale lay;

    And, as it went, it stronger grew,
        Until, o'er rock and fall,
        It dashed, unheeding all.

    Upon the banks of this wild brook,
        Clothed, all in richest green,
        And with majestic mien,

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    Arose the lofty redwood trees,
        Whose fragrant, leafy shade,
        Sweet trysting-places made

    For ferns, and flowers, and mosses rare;
        And time hath been. I ween,
        When this sweet, mountain stream

    Hath paused to start, with whirring sound
        The wheel of yon old mill
        Now pulseless grown, and still




    THE sweet brook-song was scarcely o'er,
        When on our ears fell murmuring sounds
    Of life upon another shore;
        On speeds our bark with quickening bounds
    Until, among the ships, we lay
    Beside a city on the bay.




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    LIKE some pure thought, by unknown lips let fall,
      Which grows, and bears abroad, rich truths for all,
                    So fell a seed by Yerba Buena cove,
          And, like a giant young, who smiling lies,
          Nor heeds the dormant powers, so soon to rise--
                    So lay this seed--a village fair--

    A score of years, then forth a city came,
    And cast aside its quaint old Spanish name
                        For San Francisco, Western Queen!
            And, like the saint whose name it proudly boasts,
            A friend to all who come within its posts--
                        This city with a gate of gold.

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        When dust-stained, "desert ships" came halting in,
    Her gates swung wide, and friendly welcome gave
                Those sun-kissed valiant pioneers.

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    While ocean ships, wind-tossed around Cape Horn,
      Oft refuge found within her harbor calm,
            Protected by her queenly grace.




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    AN isle with rugged, rock-bound shore
            Along our glittering pathway lay--
    A lonely isle, whose bare coast bore
            No trace of gentle spring, that day.

    A cot upon a brown hill there,
                A path that to a lighthouse led;
    These simple scenes, a picture fair
                With pleasing dreams, our fancy fed,

    We seemed to see that gleaming ray
          Pierce far away the midnight gloom,
    In fancy too across the bay
          We heard the fog-horn's warning tone

    [Illustration]

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    Wake echoes from the cliffs so bare
        While mariner, with listening ear
    The warning heard, and steered with care
        His ship past rocks that frowned near.




    THE vision passed as glides a star;
      Our ship, meanwhile, went on its way
    Past busy wharf, past reef and bar,
      Until she neared a marsh that lay
                  Low-curving, with its sandy beach,
                  Or weeds that to the waters reach.




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    'TWAS dull and gray, the marsh that lay
        Out-stretched afar--a dreary waste
    Of tide lands low, where ebb and flow
        The waters, that with reckless haste

    Have crept inland, and silent stand
      In reedy pools, or tiny lakes.
    There skimming low, now swift, now slow,
        The sea-bird pauses oft and takes

    A plunge among the luckless throng
    That here have found a quiet home;
      Or rising there, in lofty air,
    A snowy speck in sunlight shone.

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    But just beyond, the marsh's bound
      A city 'mongst fair groves we traced
    Here factory tall, and cottage small
      Each to the picture lent its grace

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    Enchanting view! Thy charms they woo
      To Alameda's fair retreat
    And bid us wait within her gate
      Her hidden glories there to greet.




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    NEXT near a shore whose wooded hills
      Touched, far away, the eastern sky,
    We paused to hear the gladsome trills
      Of land birds' songs as, fitting by,
              They sought their mates among the trees,
              And joined their notes with whispering breeze.

    We listened then, with rapt delight--
      This time a tale of classic lore
    Our captain chose, with lofty flight;
      And far from that low-curving shore
            He took us, with that pleasing tale,
            Through leafy woods, o'er hill and vale.




    AT birth of this fair city, 'mid
      These ancient liveoak trees,
    Athena, goddess fair, 'tis said,
                With her attendants came,
                And brought to it a name.

    [Illustration]

    "Thou'rt Oakland," said the winsome queen;
        "A city proud thou'lt be!
                Thy beauteous lake, thy hills so green,
                    Thy <DW72>s that rise and fall,
                        I crown, and bless them all.

    While water pure, from mountain spring
      Shall make thy gardens smile
    And busy bees their sweets will bring
            From these rich blossoming fields
            That thine abundance yields.

    Thy schools, thy colleges and halls
      Far-famed shall be on earth;
    The temples of Right within thy walls
            Shall flourish; and fair Truth
            Be prized by all thy youth."




    [Illustration]

    THE captain paused, and raised his hand
      "See yonder halls, that, tower-crowned
    Arise amid the forest grand,
    'Tis California's college ground
      And here her youth of every class
      May come and thro' those portals pass."

    [Illustration]

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    Fair Berkeley! nestling 'neath the hills
        Beside a calm and sparkling bay,
                We loitered long beside its rills,
                    In flowery paths, that led away
                        To shady nooks, where might be seen
                            Fair bowers--fit shrines for wisdom's queen.

    [Illustration]

    From classic halls we turned away
      To gaze upon a poet's home;
    'Twas near the close of that bright day,
      And golden sunlight on it shone;
                    Perfume of flowers, and birds' songs low
                    A witching spell about us throw.

    [Illustration]

      And "Songs of the Sierras" there,
        With new sweet charms fell on the ear;
      Those rhythmic notes came softer where
    The singer's presence was so near--
                Again, we seemed to hear him say,
                As light our boat rocked on the bay:

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      "For surely godland lies not far
      From these Greek heights and this great sea;
    My friend, my lover trend this way,
      Not far along lies Arcady."--_Joaquin Miller._

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    And when the sun went down, outside
      The Golden Gate, we followed, too,
    And sought again the ocean wide,
      The while the scenes that charmed our view
              Were 'graven on our hearts for aye,
              Sweet visions of an autumn day!

    And though our bark in other climes
      May loose again its snowy sail,
    Our hearts with joy will oftentimes
      These isles, these shores, this mount and vale
              Recall, and bless that kindly fate
              That led _Within the Golden Gate_.

    [Illustration]

    [Illustration]





End of Project Gutenberg's Within the Golden Gate, by Laura Young Pinney

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