| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Enchanted Toad | | By Witter Bynner |
| | From “Sea-edge Songs”
THREE times you had neared, I unaware— | |
| My body warm in the sand and bare, | |
| Three times you had hopped your silent track | |
| To the arch of shadow under my back. | |
| And each time, when I had felt you cool | 5 |
| And turned on you and, like a fool, | |
| Prodded your exit from my place, | |
| Sorrow deepened in your face. | |
| You were loth to leave me, though I threw | |
| Handfuls of sand to quicken you. | 10 |
| You would look as you went and blink your eyes | |
| And puff your pale throat with surprise. | |
| Three times you had tried, like someone daft…. | |
| Till I thought, too late, that evil craft | |
| Had altered, into what you were, | 15 |
| Some old Chinese philosopher; | |
| Had warted you dank and thwarted you dumb, | |
| And that, given just three times to come | |
| And beg a poet to set you free, | |
| You had put all your faith in me. | 20 | | | |
|
|
