Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
America: Vols. XXV–XXIX. 1876–79.

Introductory to Western States

California

By Lydia Huntley Sigourney (1791–1865)

LAND of gold!—thy sisters greet thee,

O’er the mountain and the main;

See,—they stretch the hand to meet thee,

Youngest of our household train.

Many a form their love hath fostered

Lingers ’neath thy sunny sky,

And their spirit-tokens brighten

Every link of sympathy.

We mid storms of war were cradled

Mid the shock of angry foes;

Thou, with sudden, dreamlike splendor,

Pallas-born,—in vigor rose.

Children of one common country,

Strong in friendship let us stand,

With united ardor earning

Glory for our Mother Land.

They of gold and they of iron,

They who reap the bearded wheat,

They who rear the snowy cotton,

Pour their treasures at her feet;

While with smiling exultation,

She, who marks their filial part,

Like the mother of the Gracchi,

Folds her jewels to her heart.