{
 "id": "henry-van-dyke-jr/dear-california",
 "title": "Dear California",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Henry van Dyke Jr.",
 "poet_slug": "henry-van-dyke-jr",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Chosen Poems",
 "book_slug": "chosen-poems",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 1,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1927,
  "venue": "Chosen Poems (1927)",
  "note": "Taken from Chosen Poems (1927), a selection made from the whole of van Dyke's verse, whose copyright notices run from 1894 to 1927 and name a dozen magazines and newspapers. That is the printing this text comes from, not necessarily the poem's first appearance, and which earlier printing came first has not been established here.",
  "uncertain": true,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/chosenpoems0000vand"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/henry-van-dyke-jr_poetry",
  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16229",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16134",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10679",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3525",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9372",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29314",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43094",
   "https://archive.org/details/poemsofhenryvand00vandrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/buildersotherpoe00vandrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/toilingoffelixan00vandiala",
   "https://archive.org/details/musicotherpoems0000henr_c7v6",
   "https://archive.org/details/poemsnowfirstcol00vanduoft",
   "https://archive.org/details/songsoutofdoors0000vand",
   "https://archive.org/details/thyseaisgreatour00vandiala",
   "https://archive.org/details/chosenpoems0000vand"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 18,
  "n_stanzas": 2,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 53,
  "max_indent": 3
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "How bridal thy beauty, O dear California;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "How lovely and fragrant, how rich and how rare!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Like a virgin arrayed for the day of her wedding.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy face is aglow and thy garments are fair!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "With snow on thy mountains.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "With gold in thy fountains.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Green fields at thy feet, orange bloom in thy hair.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Thou greetest the Sun as thy lover and bride-groom⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "No land that he looks on with thee can compare.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thy pines of the north are majestic in measure.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy palms of the south are a joy to the sight,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy wheatfields and orchards are fertile in treasure,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy stars are like gems on the forehead of night.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy children adore thee,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy God watches o’er thee.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "To bless thee and keep thee and guide thee aright.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Be great in thy labor and glad in thy pleasure,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "O dear California, our pride and delight!",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ]
 ]
}