Within the Golden Gate A Souvenir of San Francisco Bay — Background and Themes

A SOUVENIR OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Within the Golden Gate

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.

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:

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?

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 slopes 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,

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

'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