Saint Helena burst its crater
With a blast that leveled forests,
And the falling sand and cinders
Buried deep the fallen giants,
To be petrified to agate.
Through the steam and sulphurous vapors,
Flashed the lightning on the mountains,
And the din of quake and thunder
Beat the air until it quivered.

When God, his righteous wrath abating,
Ceased to shake and rend and deluge,
And the last reverberation
Died away into the distance,
And the trade winds from the ocean
Blew away the smoke and vapors,
Those remaining of the Tamals
Gazed with wonder at a mountain
That was standing, new, before them,
For upon it lay the maiden
With her face upturned to heaven,
As it was when she was praying
To her God to save her people.
On her youthful breast and body
Lay a forest, like a mantle,
New and green, and decked with flowers.
And her willing feet were resting
Near the bay and new-made river;
While the Chief, her faithful lover,
Bending 'neath his sacred burden,
Stretched his arms out to the valleys
Where his people would find shelter.

Here for countless generations
We have lived in peace and safety,
Roaming through the wooded valleys,
Hunting on the grassy meadows,
Fishing in the bays and rivers.

Now you know the sacred story
Of the Maid of Tamalpais--
Why no Tamal ever ventured
To the holy crest above us.
Would we tread upon the features
Of the martyred Maid who saved us?
Would we desecrate the rock-tomb
Of our Chief, her well beloved?

There she lies in all her beauty,
Sacred Maid of Tamalpais!
If her eyes should turn from heaven,
She would see across the waters
Piles of tumbled crags and boulders
In the Grove of Thousand Oak Trees,
Where the buckeye trees still blossom
Over mortar holes, half hidden.
Children play with merry laughter
Hide and seek among the boulders.
Even now perhaps, the Fairies
Dressed as butterflies may whisper
Secrets in the ears of children,
If they listen to the voices.

If her eyes should trace the steamers
As they thread the curving channel
Opened by the ancient earthquake,
She would see them pass an island
On whose red and barren summit
She was wounded in t