Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

“E Be Than”

Carroll Lane Fenton

THEY come weeping,

They raise their voices,

Women meet them

As they ride from the plain.

The band is home,

But none rejoices—

For many men

Return not again.

The chief leads them;

Yet, heavy-hearted,

He slowly rides

From the wide, shining plain.

Warriors mourn

The friends departed—

For many men

Return not again.

Women follow;

The children, weeping,

Straggle along

Through the dust of the plain,

Many mourning

Friends or fathers—

For many men

Return not again.

Priests, chanting

The sacred death-song,

Raise dull grave-poles

High above the wide plain;

Men mourn

Sons and cousins—

For dead men’s souls

Return not again.