University of Virginia Library

THE PLAZA

(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1864)

(After Sir Walter Scott)

If thou wouldst view the Plaza aright,
Go visit it by the pale moonlight;
For the gay beams of lightsome day
Show that the fountain does not play.
When the broken benches are hid in shade,
With many a vagrant recumbent laid;
When the clock on the Monumental tower
Tolls to the night the passing hour;
When cabman and hackman alternately
Entreat and threaten—indulging free
In coarse yet forcible imagery;
When the scrolls that show thee the playhouse nigh,
In monstrous letters do feign and lie,
Of “Fun divest of Vulgarity”;
When Bella Union is heard to rave
O'er the last conundrum the minstrel gave;
When the street-boy pauses—intent upon
The band at Gilbert's Melodeon—
Then go—but go alone the while,
And view John Bensley's ruined pile,
And, home returning—do not swear
If thou hast seen some things more fair.