Edited by Augustin S. Macdonald
Augustin S. Macdonald arranges 105 poems into “Pioneer,” “Overland,” and “Present” periods, turning chronology into a theory of California poetry. The first group favors public song, mining, labor, seafaring, and sentimental lyric: Bayard Taylor’s “California” opens expansively, John Rollin Ridge and Edward Pollock supply compact songs, and John Swett gives the miner a marching cadence. The Overland section mixes Bret Harte’s balladry and Mark Twain’s comic “Lines” with Ina Coolbrith’s lyric poise, Richard Realf’s indirection, and poems of Yosemite, the Colorado Desert, and Christmas in California.
The largest section tests what “present” could mean in the 1910s. George Sterling’s symbolist density, Yone Noguchi’s compression, Nora May French’s fractured memory, and Clark Ashton Smith’s ornate dream lyric appear beside civic addresses, floral songs, domestic elegies, and comic verse. Repeated sonnets, quatrains, ballads, and rhymed stanzas show inherited forms carrying new regional names and landscapes; shorter free-standing lyrics begin to interrupt that regularity. Macdonald’s categories are selective rather than neutral, but their juxtapositions are revealing. Famous writers share pages with teachers, journalists, club poets, pseudonymous authors, and figures represented by a single surviving piece, exposing literary history as a constructed sequence rather than a settled canon.
Corrected Reading Edition · Public PDF
Contents
A new edition note and introduction precede Macdonald’s preface and 105 poems divided among the Pioneer, Overland, and Present periods. Textual notes and an author index follow the poetry, preserving the anthology’s historical sequence while providing modern navigation.
| Title | Creator | Genre / type | Reader PDF page |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Note on This Edition | Brian Kim Stefans | digital edition apparatus | reader PDF p. 5 |
| Introduction to the New Edition | Brian Kim Stefans | editorial introduction | reader PDF p. 8 |
| Preface | Augustin S. Macdonald | preface | reader PDF p. 22 |
| California | Bayard Taylor | poem | reader PDF p. 28 |
| The Golden Gate | “Caxton”—(W. H. Rhodes) | poem | reader PDF p. 30 |
| The Song of the Flume | Anna M. Fitch | poem | reader PDF p. 32 |
| The Sabbath Bells | John R. Ridge | poem | reader PDF p. 34 |
| An Evening Song at Sea | C. E. Havens | poem | reader PDF p. 35 |
| To the Sierras | J. J. Owen | poem | reader PDF p. 36 |
| To My Mother | Stephen C. Massett | poem | reader PDF p. 37 |
| The Lone Pine | B. P. Avery | poem | reader PDF p. 39 |
| No Baby in the House | Clara Dolliver | poem | reader PDF p. 40 |
| The Parting Hour | Edward Pollock | poem | reader PDF p. 41 |
| Truth | G. | poem | reader PDF p. 41 |
| The Whole Story | J. F. Bowman | poem | reader PDF p. 42 |
| To My First Love | Crowquill | poem | reader PDF p. 43 |
| Song of Labor: The Miner | John Swett | poem | reader PDF p. 44 |
| Stanzas | Sarah E. Carmichael | poem | reader PDF p. 45 |
| Hurrah for the Next that Dies | Bartholomew Dowling | poem | reader PDF p. 46 |
| Scotland | James Linen | poem | reader PDF p. 48 |
| Columbus | Joaquin Miller | poem | reader PDF p. 50 |
| To Mrs. M—— | Richard Realf | poem | reader PDF p. 51 |
| The Angelus | F. Bret Harte | poem | reader PDF p. 52 |
| Madrigal | Charles Warren Stoddard | poem | reader PDF p. 53 |
| Lines | Mark Twain | poem | reader PDF p. 54 |
| Home | Edward Rowland Sill | poem | reader PDF p. 55 |
| In Blossom Time | Ina Coolbrith | poem | reader PDF p. 56 |
| Sweethearts and Wives | Daniel O'Connell | poem | reader PDF p. 57 |
| Two Truths | Helen Hunt Jackson | poem | reader PDF p. 58 |
| A Bird Sings In My Heart | Irene Hardy | poem | reader PDF p. 59 |
| I Know Not How It Is With You | Robert Louis Stevenson | poem | reader PDF p. 60 |
| Politics | Ambrose Bierce | poem | reader PDF p. 60 |
| El Vaquero | Lucius Harwood Foote | poem | reader PDF p. 61 |
| California Skies | Clarence Urmy | poem | reader PDF p. 62 |
| Yosemite | Daniel S. Richardson | poem | reader PDF p. 63 |
| Junipero Serra | Richard Edward White | poem | reader PDF p. 64 |
| To the Colorado Desert | Madge Morris Wagner | poem | reader PDF p. 65 |
| Music | Edward Robeson Taylor | poem | reader PDF p. 66 |
| Mankind | Joaquin Miller | poem | reader PDF p. 66 |
| Indirection | Richard Realf | poem | reader PDF p. 67 |
| Christmas in California | Edward Rowland Sill | poem | reader PDF p. 68 |
| Luke | F. Bret Harte | poem | reader PDF p. 69 |
| The Comet | Charles Warren Stoddard | poem | reader PDF p. 73 |
| Belle of Monterey | Einnim Havemeyer Tucker | poem | reader PDF p. 74 |
| “The Pride of Battery B” | Frank H. Gassaway | poem | reader PDF p. 76 |
| The Celestial Surgeon | Robert Louis Stevenson | poem | reader PDF p. 79 |
| Invocation to California | Charles Keeler | poem | reader PDF p. 81 |
| The Black Vulture | George Sterling | poem | reader PDF p. 82 |
| Resurgam | David Lesser Lezinsky | poem | reader PDF p. 82 |
| Just California | John S. McGroarty | poem | reader PDF p. 83 |
| The Happiest Heart | John Vance Cheney | poem | reader PDF p. 84 |
| The Creed of Desire | Bruce Porter | poem | reader PDF p. 85 |
| To San Francisco | Samuel John Alexander | poem | reader PDF p. 86 |
| The Shrine of Song | Louis Alexander Robertson | poem | reader PDF p. 88 |
| The Rosary | Robert Cameron Rogers | poem | reader PDF p. 89 |
| Lines | Yone Noguchi | poem | reader PDF p. 89 |
| The Old Brooch | Charles F. Lummis | poem | reader PDF p. 90 |
| The Wolves of the Sea | Herbert Bashford | poem | reader PDF p. 91 |
| A Dream of Beauty | Clark Ashton Smith | poem | reader PDF p. 92 |
| Women's Eyes | Arthur William Ryder | poem | reader PDF p. 92 |
| The Goblin Laugh | Edwin Markham | poem | reader PDF p. 93 |
| The Awakening | Christian Binkley | poem | reader PDF p. 94 |
| A Nosegay | Augustin S. Macdonald | poem | reader PDF p. 94 |
| Appearances | William Henry Hudson | poem | reader PDF p. 95 |
| The Grave of Pompey | Sister Anthony, S. N. D. | poem | reader PDF p. 96 |
| Vivérols | David Starr Jordan | poem | reader PDF p. 97 |
| A Memory | Carolus Ager (Charles Kellogg Field) | poem | reader PDF p. 99 |
| A Toast | Gelett Burgess | poem | reader PDF p. 99 |
| To the Average Man | Wallace Irwin | poem | reader PDF p. 100 |
| Twilight Town | Ralph Erwin Gibbs | poem | reader PDF p. 101 |
| Growth of the Soul | James Henry Maclafferty | poem | reader PDF p. 102 |
| To My Ink-well | Lionel Josaphare | poem | reader PDF p. 103 |
| To a Star-Flower | Edward Howard Griggs | poem | reader PDF p. 104 |
| Little Memories | Nora May French | poem | reader PDF p. 105 |
| The Difference | Augustin S. Macdonald | poem | reader PDF p. 105 |
| Lyric | Howard V. Sutherland | poem | reader PDF p. 106 |
| Nirvana | Bernard Westermann | poem | reader PDF p. 107 |
| Retrospection | James Rawlins | poem | reader PDF p. 108 |
| Titans of Earth | Harold Symmes | poem | reader PDF p. 109 |
| Quatrain | Stanley Coghill | poem | reader PDF p. 109 |
| Sonnet | Henriette de Saussure Blanding | poem | reader PDF p. 110 |
| When the Baby Died | A. J. Waterhouse | poem | reader PDF p. 111 |
| A Wingless One | Herman Scheffauer | poem | reader PDF p. 112 |
| Wireless | Henry Anderson Lafler | poem | reader PDF p. 113 |
| The California Eschscholtzia | Amelia Woodward Truesdell | poem | reader PDF p. 114 |
| California Sunrise | W. D. Crabb | poem | reader PDF p. 115 |
| Out in California | C. Brown | poem | reader PDF p. 115 |
| A Flower of the First | Charles S. Aiken | poem | reader PDF p. 116 |
| A Year from Now | Sarah Keppel Vickery | poem | reader PDF p. 117 |
| Whem I Am Gone | Isabel Pixley | poem | reader PDF p. 117 |
| My Retreat | Albert J. Atkins | poem | reader PDF p. 118 |
| Whom Does She Love | Arthur Wm. Ryder | poem | reader PDF p. 118 |
| Sisters of the Little Sorrows | Juliet Wilbor Tompkins | poem | reader PDF p. 119 |
| Daffodils | Grace Hibbard | poem | reader PDF p. 120 |
| Confusion | E. F. Green | poem | reader PDF p. 121 |
| An Indian Verse | Hu Maxwell | poem | reader PDF p. 122 |
| The Stream of Life | Lilian Lauferty | poem | reader PDF p. 123 |
| The Change | Charles Philip Nettleton | poem | reader PDF p. 124 |
| The Spirit of California | Rufus Steele | poem | reader PDF p. 125 |
| Song of the Out-of-Doors | Herbert Bashford | poem | reader PDF p. 126 |
| To William Vaughn Moody | Herbert Heron | poem | reader PDF p. 127 |
| The Greatest of These Is Charity | Harriet M. Skidmore | poem | reader PDF p. 127 |
| Glose Upon a Ruba'iy | Porter Garnett | poem | reader PDF p. 128 |
| The Poet | Ina Coolbrith | poem | reader PDF p. 129 |
| A Life | Edward Howard Griggs | poem | reader PDF p. 130 |
| In the Redwood Canyons | Lillian Shuey | poem | reader PDF p. 130 |
| California | Augustin S. Macdonald | poem | reader PDF p. 131 |
| Night Sentries | George Sterling | poem | reader PDF p. 132 |
| Textual Notes | Brian Kim Stefans | digital edition apparatus | reader PDF p. 134 |
| Index of Authors | Brian Kim Stefans | reference index | reader PDF p. 137 |
Contributors
- Augustin S. Macdonald — Compiler, editor, and poet
- Brian Kim Stefans — Editorial introduction and digital edition apparatus
- Bayard Taylor — Poet
- “Caxton”—(W. H. Rhodes) — Poet
- Anna M. Fitch — Poet
- John R. Ridge — Poet
- C. E. Havens — Poet
- J. J. Owen — Poet
- Stephen C. Massett — Poet
- B. P. Avery — Poet
- Clara Dolliver — Poet
- Edward Pollock — Poet
- G. — Poet
- J. F. Bowman — Poet
- Crowquill — Poet
- John Swett — Poet
- Sarah E. Carmichael — Poet
- Bartholomew Dowling — Poet
- James Linen — Poet
- Joaquin Miller — Poet
- Richard Realf — Poet
- F. Bret Harte — Poet
- Charles Warren Stoddard — Poet
- Mark Twain — Poet
- Edward Rowland Sill — Poet
- Ina Coolbrith — Poet
- Daniel O'Connell — Poet
- Helen Hunt Jackson — Poet
- Irene Hardy — Poet
- Robert Louis Stevenson — Poet
- Ambrose Bierce — Poet
- Lucius Harwood Foote — Poet
- Clarence Urmy — Poet
- Daniel S. Richardson — Poet
- Richard Edward White — Poet
- Madge Morris Wagner — Poet
- Edward Robeson Taylor — Poet
- Einnim Havemeyer Tucker — Poet
- Frank H. Gassaway — Poet
- Charles Keeler — Poet
- George Sterling — Poet
- David Lesser Lezinsky — Poet
- John S. McGroarty — Poet
- John Vance Cheney — Poet
- Bruce Porter — Poet
- Samuel John Alexander — Poet
- Louis Alexander Robertson — Poet
- Robert Cameron Rogers — Poet
- Yone Noguchi — Poet
- Charles F. Lummis — Poet
- Herbert Bashford — Poet
- Clark Ashton Smith — Poet
- Arthur William Ryder — Poet
- Edwin Markham — Poet
- Christian Binkley — Poet
- William Henry Hudson — Poet
- Sister Anthony, S. N. D. — Poet
- David Starr Jordan — Poet
- Carolus Ager (Charles Kellogg Field) — Poet
- Gelett Burgess — Poet
- Wallace Irwin — Poet
- Ralph Erwin Gibbs — Poet
- James Henry Maclafferty — Poet
- Lionel Josaphare — Poet
- Edward Howard Griggs — Poet
- Nora May French — Poet
- Howard V. Sutherland — Poet
- Bernard Westermann — Poet
- James Rawlins — Poet
- Harold Symmes — Poet
- Stanley Coghill — Poet
- Henriette de Saussure Blanding — Poet
- A. J. Waterhouse — Poet
- Herman Scheffauer — Poet
- Henry Anderson Lafler — Poet
- Amelia Woodward Truesdell — Poet
- W. D. Crabb — Poet
- C. Brown — Poet
- Charles S. Aiken — Poet
- Sarah Keppel Vickery — Poet
- Isabel Pixley — Poet
- Albert J. Atkins — Poet
- Arthur Wm. Ryder — Poet
- Juliet Wilbor Tompkins — Poet
- Grace Hibbard — Poet
- E. F. Green — Poet
- Hu Maxwell — Poet
- Lilian Lauferty — Poet
- Charles Philip Nettleton — Poet
- Rufus Steele — Poet
- Herbert Heron — Poet
- Harriet M. Skidmore — Poet
- Porter Garnett — Poet
- Lillian Shuey — Poet
Publication details
Subjects and editorial notes
Subjects
Keywords
Augustin S. Macdonald California poets Gold Rush Overland San Francisco 1914
Continuity notes
Part of the shared Anthologies and Documents collection.
Edition note
The formatted edition presents the selected source text in a stable, searchable reading format with modern navigation. Source scans remain private editorial evidence and are not part of the public upload.
Source note
Metadata and contents were checked against the 140-page formatted PDF and the identified source scan files where available.
Rights and citation
Copyright notice
Copyright in public-domain source texts has expired in the United States. Copyright in later works and new editorial matter remains with the respective authors, editors, publishers, or successors.
Rights status
Public Domain
Rights basis
The original 1914 publication is in the public domain in the United States. New editorial introduction, apparatus, and design were prepared in 2026.
Suggested citation
Macdonald, Augustin S., comp. A Collection of Verse by California Poets, from 1849 to 1915. A. M. Robertson, 1914. Text/Tech Anthologies and Documents, reader’s edition, 2026.