Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

The Sand-piper

Witter Bynner

ALONG the sea-edge, like a gnome

Or rolling pebble in the foam,

As though he timed the ocean’s throbbing,

Runs a piper, bobbing, bobbing.

How he stiffens, how he wilts,

Like a little boy on stilts!

Creatures burrow, insects hide,

When they see the piper glide.

You would think him out of joint,

Till his bill begins to point.

You would doubt if he could fly,

Till his straightness arrows by.

You would take him for a clown,

Till he peeps and flutters down,

Vigilant among the grasses,

Where a fledgling bobs and passes.