Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry. 1919.
Madison Cawein18651914The Man Hunt
T
And the brush is deep where a man may hide,
To the roadside rock where they found the slain.
Have taken the trail to the mountain way.
And thrice they found it and thrice they lost.
They follow the scent through the forest’s hush.
In the heart of the wood that the man must hear.
From the stern-faced men that follow these.
And the trail of the hunted again is lost.
A heel has trampled—the trail is found.
As again they take to the mountain way.
With a pine-tree clutching its crumbling edge.
Whose huge roots hollow a ragged cave.
And the human quarry is laired at last.
And eyes of terror, who waits them there;
Hurls clods and curses at dogs and men.
Him stunned and bleeding upon his face.
And a score of hands to swing him clear.
And the moon and the stars to look upon.