CALIFORNIA 
 
 
Forged by God’s fingers in His furnace, Fate, 
My destiny drew near the glowing shore 
Where California hides her golden ore, 
Her rubies and her beryls ;          (I) 
Manifold fruits and flowers alike create 
Glories most unimaginable, more 
Than Heaven’s own meadows match ; yet this is sore, 
A stain ; not one of these is delicate. 
 
 
Save only the clear green within the sea— 
Because that rolls all landless from Japan. 
I did not know until I missed it here 
How beautiful that beauty is to me, 
That life that bears Death’s sigil traced too clear, 
Blue lines within the beauty that is man. 
(I)  Line 4 cannot with any certainty be deciphered. 
 
 
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