Poems (Hoffman)/Through the Golden Gate
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THROUGH THE GOLDEN GATE
In through the Golden Gate
The stately vessels come,
Cheering the ones who watch and wait
'Till their faithful ships come home.
A speck in the distant blue,
A glimpse of a flashing sail
Or a steamer ploughing the waters through
And facing the freshened gale.
One by one they come,
Some early and others late;
But all to be anchored safe at home
Inside of the Golden Gate.
The stately vessels come,
Cheering the ones who watch and wait
'Till their faithful ships come home.
A speck in the distant blue,
A glimpse of a flashing sail
Or a steamer ploughing the waters through
And facing the freshened gale.
One by one they come,
Some early and others late;
But all to be anchored safe at home
Inside of the Golden Gate.
From the Orient ports they come,
From the islands of the sea,
Ploughing their way through the crested foam
To the waves' wild melody;
While, close in their pathless way,
The gulls from their rude cliff-nests
Flap their wings in the driven spray
And bathe in the foam, their breasts.
Flags on the sea-breeze chill
Streaming their colors wide,
Splashing of waves when storms are still
On the rising and ebbing tide;
Vessels from foreign lands,
Steamers from distant climes,
Rock in their cradle of silver sands
To the wild waves' rolling rhymes.
Side by side in the blue
Of the dimpling waves at play,
As up to the busy wharf they drew
From the golden gate of the bay.
From the islands of the sea,
Ploughing their way through the crested foam
To the waves' wild melody;
While, close in their pathless way,
The gulls from their rude cliff-nests
Flap their wings in the driven spray
And bathe in the foam, their breasts.
Flags on the sea-breeze chill
Streaming their colors wide,
Splashing of waves when storms are still
On the rising and ebbing tide;
Vessels from foreign lands,
Steamers from distant climes,
Rock in their cradle of silver sands
To the wild waves' rolling rhymes.
Side by side in the blue
Of the dimpling waves at play,
As up to the busy wharf they drew
From the golden gate of the bay.
Out from the Golden Gate
One by one they go.
Each to her fortune or her fate,
What waits them who can know?
Who can tell if they come
Again o'er the harbor bar,
Ploughing their way through the dashing foam
In the light of sun or star?
Who knows but that stately form
In the distant blue, a speck,
May lie ere the light of another morn
In the whelming floods, a wreck?
Lost! Lost! in the deep
To the maddened waves a prey,
Lost! Lost! where the caverns sleep
In fathomless mystery;
Or lured by the siren's song
On merciless rocks to dash,
To sink while the midnight shadows throng
And severing timbers crash.
One by one they go.
Each to her fortune or her fate,
What waits them who can know?
Who can tell if they come
Again o'er the harbor bar,
Ploughing their way through the dashing foam
In the light of sun or star?
Who knows but that stately form
In the distant blue, a speck,
May lie ere the light of another morn
In the whelming floods, a wreck?
Lost! Lost! in the deep
To the maddened waves a prey,
Lost! Lost! where the caverns sleep
In fathomless mystery;
Or lured by the siren's song
On merciless rocks to dash,
To sink while the midnight shadows throng
And severing timbers crash.
In through the Golden Gate
In the twilight's deepening hush,
Out through the Golden Gate
In the morning's rosy flush;
With the port of rest in view,
O'er the perilous waves to ride,
Sail the proud ships of our country true
With the flag of our nation's pride,
While close in their pathless way
The gulls from their rude cliff-nests
Flap their wings in the driven spray
And bathe in the foam their breasts;
And the dark blue waves I love,
In their aimless frolic reach
For the shells in many a sheltered cove
And the sunbeams on the beach;
And another ocean spreads
Her waste behind, before,
Where the stern cliffs lift their fog-veiled heads
And the wild waves laugh and roar.
And I, in my tossing boat,
Through the perilous waters, steer
And strive through the foggy air to note
Some sign of a haven near.
Hark! 'tis the syren's song!
Look! 'tis a hidden shoal!
Dense and dark are the mists that throng
To hide from my sight, my goal;
Many a wreck I've passed.
Lost! Lost! Shall I share their fate?
O, to be safe with my anchor cast
Inside of the Golden Gate!
Where the everlasting hills
All mansion-crowned, appear,
And no dense fog veils and no damp wind chills
The beautiful city, there;
But where in that haven-home
There are some who watch and wait
For each worn, storm-driven barque to come
In through the Golden Gate.
In the twilight's deepening hush,
Out through the Golden Gate
In the morning's rosy flush;
With the port of rest in view,
O'er the perilous waves to ride,
Sail the proud ships of our country true
With the flag of our nation's pride,
While close in their pathless way
The gulls from their rude cliff-nests
Flap their wings in the driven spray
And bathe in the foam their breasts;
And the dark blue waves I love,
In their aimless frolic reach
For the shells in many a sheltered cove
And the sunbeams on the beach;
And another ocean spreads
Her waste behind, before,
Where the stern cliffs lift their fog-veiled heads
And the wild waves laugh and roar.
And I, in my tossing boat,
Through the perilous waters, steer
And strive through the foggy air to note
Some sign of a haven near.
Hark! 'tis the syren's song!
Look! 'tis a hidden shoal!
Dense and dark are the mists that throng
To hide from my sight, my goal;
Many a wreck I've passed.
Lost! Lost! Shall I share their fate?
O, to be safe with my anchor cast
Inside of the Golden Gate!
Where the everlasting hills
All mansion-crowned, appear,
And no dense fog veils and no damp wind chills
The beautiful city, there;
But where in that haven-home
There are some who watch and wait
For each worn, storm-driven barque to come
In through the Golden Gate.