| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | Palace of the Babies | | By Wallace Stevens |
| | From “Sur Ma Guzzla Gracile”
THE DISBELIEVER walked the moonlit place, | |
| Outside of gates of hammered serafin, | |
| Observing the moon-blotches on the walls. | |
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| The yellow rocked across the still façades, | |
| Or else sat spinning on the pinnacles, | 5 |
| While he imagined humming sounds and sleep. | |
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| The walker in the moonlight walked alone, | |
| And each black window of the building balked | |
| His loneliness and what was in his mind: | |
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| If in a shimmering room the babies came, | 10 |
| Drawn close by dreams of fledgling wing, | |
| It was because night nursed them in its fold. | |
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| Night nursed not him in whose dark mind | |
| The clambering wings of birds of black revolved, | |
| Making harsh torment of the solitude. | 15 |
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| The walker in the moonlight walked alone, | |
| And in his heart his disbelief lay cold. | |
| His broad-brimmed hat came close upon his eyes. | | | | |
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