Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry. 1919.

Haniel Long1888–1956

Dead Men Tell No Tales

THEY say that dead men tell no tales!

Except of barges with red sails

And sailors mad for nightingales;

Except of jongleurs stretched at ease

Beside old highways through the trees;

Except of dying moons that break

The hearts of lads who lie awake;

Except of fortresses in shade,

And heroes crumbled and betrayed.

But dead men tell no tales, they say!

Except old tales that burn away

The stifling tapestries of day:

Old tales of life, of love and hate,

Of time and space, and will, and fate.