Personal Journey (Kings Canyon)

Such was that happy Garden-state While man there walked without a mate: After a place so pure and sweet, What other help could yet be meet! But 'twas beyond a mortal's share To wander solitary there: Two paradises 'twere in one, To live in Paradise alone. -Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), The Garden

Golden Hour (Kings Canyon)

The golden hours on angel wings Flew o'er me and my dearie; For dear to me as light and life Was my sweet Highland Mary. -Robert Burns (1759-1796), Highland Mary

Ardent Wish (Kings Canyon)

With many an ardent wish, She stretch'd in vain to reach the prize. -Thomas Gray (1716-1771), Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes

Voice Among Trees (Yosemite)

Hear the voice of the Bard! Who Present, Past and Future, sees Whose ears have heard The Holy Word, That walk'd among the ancient trees. -William Blake (1757-1827), Hear the Voice of the Bard, from Songs of Experience

Secret Joy (Wallace Falls)

Thou joy'st in better marks, of soil, of air, Of wood, of water; therein thou art fair. -Ben Johnson (1572-1637), To Penshurst

Waves Aflame (San Francisco)

The western wave was all aflame. The day was well nigh done! Almost upon the western wave Rested the broad bright Sun; -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1798

Peek (San Francisco)

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Coming Home (Great Smoky Mountains)

Twelve years have elapsed since I last took a view Of my favourite field and the bank where they grew, And now in the grass behold they are laid, And the tree is my seat that once lent me a shade. -William Cowper (1731-1800), The Poplar Field

Tears from Heaven (Rainier)

He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear, He gained from Heav'n ('twas all he wished) a friend. -Thomas Gray (1716-1771), Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, The Epitaph

Sea Lights (San Francisco)

And enamour'd do wish, so they might             But enjoy such a sight, That they still were to run by her side, Thorough swords, thorough seas, whither she would ride. -Ben Johnson (1572-1637), The Triumph of Charis, from A Celebration of Charis in Ten Lyric Pieces

City of Lights (San Francisco)

Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee, The shooting stars attend thee;     And the elves also,     Whose little eyes glow Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee. -Robert Herrick (1591-1673), The Night-Piece to Julia

Passage of Light (San Francisco)

And from her arch'd brows such a grace             Sheds itself through the face, As alone there triumphs to the life All the gain, all the good, of the elements' strife. -Ben Johnson (1572-1637), The Triumph of Charis, from A Celebration of Charis in Ten Lyric Pieces

Ocean Gems (San Francisco)

Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear: -Thomas Gray (1716-1771), Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Twinkling Bay (San Francisco)

A hundred lamps beam'd in the tranquil gloom, From tree to tree all through the twinkling grove, -Matthew Arnold, Mycerinus,1849