| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Sand-piper | | By Witter Bynner |
| | From “Sea-edge Songs”
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. | |
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| How he stiffens, how he wilts, | 5 |
| Like a little boy on stilts! | |
| Creatures burrow, insects hide, | |
| When they see the piper glide. | |
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| You would think him out of joint, | |
| Till his bill begins to point. | 10 |
| You would doubt if he could fly, | |
| Till his straightness arrows by. | |
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| You would take him for a clown, | |
| Till he peeps and flutters down, | |
| Vigilant among the grasses, | 15 |
| Where a fledgling bobs and passes. | | | | |
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