The Legends of San Francisco

Through it, as a giant sluiceway,
Rushed the roaring, boiling waters
Of the lake, in tumbling tumult,
Flooding all the bayside lowlands,
Racing through the Golden Gateway
In a cataract stupendous.
Saint Helena burst its crater
With a blast that leveled forests,
And the falling sand and cinders
Buried deep the fallen giants,
To be petrified to agate.
Through the steam and sulphurous vapors,
Flashed the lightning on the mountains,
And the din of quake and thunder
Beat the air until it quivered.

When God, his righteous wrath abating,
Ceased to shake and rend and deluge,
And the last reverberation
Died away into the distance,
And the trade winds from the ocean
Blew away the smoke and vapors,
Those remaining of the Tamals
Gazed with wonder at a mountain
That was standing, new, before them,
For upon it lay the maiden
With her face upturned to heaven,
As it was when she was praying
To her God to save her pe