Life was a magic mantle, wove
By fairy hands, in a charmèd grove,
Wherewith we wrapped ourselves around
In wide, free spaces, where God is found.
Life was a torrent, that overflowed
San Bruno’s mountains and Mission Road;
Canyons, gashed in a mountain wall,
With the wound healed over by chapparal;
Mist-clad hollows, and gusty plains,
Curbed by the wind with galling reins.