Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

Harbor Water

Beatrice Ravenel

ALL through the night I can hear the sound of dancers,

Soft-padding hoofs, and the lipping of the water,

The water, the water patting juba …

Juba! Juba!

Juba lef’ an’ juba right,

Juba dance on a moonshine night—

Juba!

Knobbly palmetto posts,

Matted trunks of sea-gods,

Hairier than monkeys, rise from the water—

The pulpy, the oily-burnished water.

Soft rocking feet of the dancers sway about them,

Long-swelling ripples with their crisp inhibitions,

Filed golden streaks like the pointed feet of dancers,

Pull of the tide, and the netted flopping motion

Of the water, the music-woven, oily-damasked water,

Water patting juba….

Juba! Juba!

Juba lef’ an’ juba right,

Juba dance on a moonshine night—

Juba!