Classic Poem

Pasadena, charming town,
Wears a fruit-and-flower crown.
There the tendrils, boughs and twigs
Bend with lemons, grapes or figs.
Purple bougainvillea vines
Interlace with palms and pines,
And the buff and crimson cannas
Wave beside broad-leaved bananas.

In the dallying ocean breeze
Swing the feathery pepper-trees;
Here nasturtiums, orange-red,
Wreathe the scarlet salvia-bed;
Here are lilies, pink or pied,
Spotted like a leopard's hide;
Here the marigold in yellow
Mocks the apricot grown mellow.

Morning glories float and flow
Like a cloud of indigo;
Blooming eucalyptus trees'
Blood-hued clusters tempt the bees;
Rank geraniums fringe the ways
With a splendid sunset blaze:
Like a flamed-robed Witch of Endor
Yon hibiscus shines in splendor.

Green pomegranates' blossom-stars
Glare and glow like angry Mars;
Here lantana clusters burn,
Trumpet-flowers with passion yearn.
Here are cactus, fuschia, rose,
Oleanders' fragrant snows.
Blue solanum, red tacoma,
Heliotrope with blest aroma.

Here are scattered on her slopes
Strawberries, melons, cantaloupes;
Here the golden orange clings,
Here the odorous grape-fruit swings.
Here are dangling in your reach
Olive, plum, and pear and peach,
Purple aster, red verbena,
Saffron poppy,—Pasadena!