Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL First Line: Onward from 'las flores' rancho, following the shore- / line steeps Last Line: Flash the ruins as old faces gleam with thoughts of long ago. Subject(s): Missions & Missionaries; San Juan Capistrano, California | ||||||||
Onward from "Las Flores" rancho, following the shoreline steeps, Ten leagues distant from San Luis, 'midst the hills a fair vale sleeps; Here the Coast Range, northward trending, opens in a tiny gate, Where without, the chafing billows centuries for entrance wait. Where th' arroyo, called "Viejo," finds Trabuco's loit'ring stream, And as young explorers seek they ocean-world's alluring gleam, Stands the Mission Capistrano in a spot which well beguiles From th' impassioned sun departing, all his hoarded farewell smiles; Spot which mildest moons illumine, where stars scintillating rise With soft semi-tropic lustrelight unknown to colder skies. In this calm and restful valley stands a shrine to one whose head Knew no rest, when as Franciscan, poverty and war he wed; He who from the Turks accurséd, strove to tear the shrines profaned By the touch of infidels, and by the turbaned shadows stained; Who great riches, for the Master, with devoted life laid down, Grieving he was "deemed unworthy" to receive a martyr's crown. Blend the olive and the orange round his shrine their shaded green; Tender bloom of gnarléd vines, tells boundless wealth that once was seen. And they say that sometimes voices chant within this lonely shrine, And at midnight spectral tapers round its burning crosses shine; Melt such phantoms at the dawning with the shadows from its slope, Gleams on it the morning sunlight, but for it no morning hope! Soft 'gainst ocean's hoarse boom falls the hum of hours in idle flight, As a picture's darker background brings the tender shades to light. Mountain perfumes and sea-odors to a sweet narcotic blend, And each day with languor ravished, slowly loiters to its end; Till life seems an old man dreaming, and with evening's wond'rous glow Flash the ruins as old faces gleam with thoughts of long ago. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BELLS OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO by CHARLES AUGUSTUS KEELER HAVEN OF THE SWALLOWS by LILLIAN PARCEL 87 CASA GRANDE by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A BILIOUS DAY by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A CALIFORNIA PILGRIMAGE by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A CHOICE by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A CONSECRATION FOR A NON-SECTARIAN CHURCH by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A GOOD FRIDAY DEVOTION by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A GRIZZLY IN THE ZOO by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL A NUBIAN LION by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL |
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