| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1433. In Louisiana |
| | | By Albert Bigelow Paine |
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| THE LONG, gray moss that softly swings | |
| In solemn grandeur from the trees, | |
| Like mournful funeral draperies,— | |
| A brown-winged bird that never sings. | |
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| A shallow, stagnant, inland sea, | 5 |
| Where rank swamp grasses wave, and where | |
| A deadliness lurks in the air,— | |
| A sere leaf falling silently. | |
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| The death-like calm on every hand, | |
| That one might deem it sin to break, | 10 |
| So pure, so perfect,—these things make | |
| The mournful beauty of this land. | |
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