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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CALIFORNIA by BAYARD TAYLOR

First Line: HOW ART THOU CONQUERED, TAMED IN ALL THE PRIDE
Last Line: REPLACE THINE ANCIENT EASE.
Subject(s): CALIFORNIA;

How art thou conquered, tamed in all the pride
Of savage beauty still!
How brought, O panther of the splendid hide,
To know thy master's will!

No more thou sittest on thy tawny hills
In indolent repose;
Or pourest the crystal of a thousand rills
Down from thy house of snows.

But where the wild oats wrapped thy knees in gold,
The plowman drives his share;
And where, through canyons deep, thy streams are rolled,
The miner's arm is bare.

And order, justice, social law shall curb
Thy untamed energies;
And art and science, with their dreams superb,
Replace thine ancient ease.



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