SUNRISE FROM THE ALVARADO HOTEL, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO.

“The Alvarado,” on the Santa Fe,

Here oft my eyes have met the break of day;

The red sun rising through the morning mist,

Over the mountains, and the mesa kissed,

Down to the valley, where the shadows deep

Dissolved, and woke the city from its sleep.

Facing the East, the first faint streak of dawn

Sought my closed eyes and ope'd them to the morn.

Then like the passing shadow of a cloud

Revealed the world beneath the lifted shroud,

The glories of the proud Sandia Range,

Whose rugged grandeur God alone can change.

Sweet was the air that in my casement swept,

And in the court below a fountain leap't,

Which on the harp of life sweet music made,

And soothed me in my slumbers as it played.

The songs of gentle rain, of woodland stream,

Entranced me nightly in a murmuring dream.

The doves upon the roof made music too,

And sweet it was to hear them bill and coo.

Into my open window Nature smiled,

And all the world seemed pure and undefiled.

Naught can describe those joys of early morn,

When from the night another day was born.

When cares that come oppress and burden me,

I'll pray to God to send me memory,

Where precious moments came at break of day,

“The Alvarado” on the Santa Fe.

Thither my soul shall fly where'er I be,

And bring that joy of morning back to me.