The Falls of the Yo-Semite (Stanza I)

The voice of waters! ringing on the ear,
Awe-struck, amid the fearful solitude­
Alone with Nature! Torrents fitful gleam,
Rushing, and hurrying on, with maddening leap,
Into the depths below! The deafening shock
Of rapid whirlpools, leaping on the rocks­
Dancing and foaming, with their deep hoarse roar,
Like some huge monster -- then, with maddening plunge,
Dashing to depths below, while o'er them towers
A mighty pyramid of misty cloud,
Rising on high to heaven;-such, such art thou,
Yo-Semite! . . .

G. T. Sproat

From Hutchings’ California Magazine
August 1860