| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 372. The Dalliance of the Eagles |
| | | By Walt Whitman |
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| SKIRTING the river road (my forenoon walk, my rest), | |
| Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles, | |
| The rushing amorous contact high in space together, | |
| The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel, | |
| Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling, | 5 |
| In tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling, | |
| Till o’er the river poised, the twain yet one, a moment’s lull, | |
| A motionless still balance in the air, then parting, talons loosing, | |
| Upward again on slow-firm pinions slanting, their separate diverse flight, | |
| She hers, he his, pursuing. | 10 |
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