Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
The Dead LoonWitter Bynner
From “Presences”
T
And down the lake a live loon calling….
The wind comes stealing, tall, muscular and cool,
From his plunge where stars are falling.
On its night-hidden trail,
Up to the cabin where we sit playing cards and talking.
And only I, of them all, listen and grow pale.
Talks to me of death, and bids me hark
To the hollow scream of a loon, and bids me see
The face of a clever fool reflected in the dark.
It has no voice with which to answer while we wait.
But it is with me, and with the evening star;
Its voice is my voice, and its fate my fate.