THE LEGEND OF LOVER'S LEAP
Where the narrow grade winds up and down
And the stage rattles past to the distant town,
Where the torrent pours down the cañon wild,
Where the rocks in shapeless walls are piled.
Where the speckled trout o'er the ripples play
And the grasses droop to the cascade's spray,
Where the wild deer pauses at eve to drink
And leaves his tracks on the mossy brink,
High over the stream towers a rock-hewn steep
That is known by the name of "Lover's Leap."
And the stage rattles past to the distant town,
Where the torrent pours down the cañon wild,
Where the rocks in shapeless walls are piled.
Where the speckled trout o'er the ripples play
And the grasses droop to the cascade's spray,
Where the wild deer pauses at eve to drink
And leaves his tracks on the mossy brink,
High over the stream towers a rock-hewn steep
That is known by the name of "Lover's Leap."
'Tis an Indian legend of storied fame
That gave to the stern old rock its name,
A legend of love and jealous hate,
Of a dusky maiden desolate,
Her swarthy lover a truant gone
With a dark-browed rival, and following on
With a fierce, wild look in her midnight eyes
On, on, through the forest gloom she flies
Over fallen logs, o'er hill and dell,
Thick with manzanita and chaparral,
'Till at last she stops where the waters sweep
Round the ragged turrets of Lover's Leap.
That gave to the stern old rock its name,
A legend of love and jealous hate,
Of a dusky maiden desolate,
Her swarthy lover a truant gone
With a dark-browed rival, and following on
With a fierce, wild look in her midnight eyes
On, on, through the forest gloom she flies
Over fallen logs, o'er hill and dell,
Thick with manzanita and chaparral,
'Till at last she stops where the waters sweep
Round the ragged turrets of Lover's Leap.
But why does she turn from the torrent's edge
With one startled glance from ledge to ledge
Ere she bounds away like a frightened fawn
With her raven hair on the breezes blown?
She knows where the path leads up the height
And thither she takes her breathless flight;
Higher and higher her light feet bound
'Till the shadowy forest is left behind,
With one startled glance from ledge to ledge
Ere she bounds away like a frightened fawn
With her raven hair on the breezes blown?
She knows where the path leads up the height
And thither she takes her breathless flight;
Higher and higher her light feet bound
'Till the shadowy forest is left behind,
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