Orrick Johns. The Haunt. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

The Haunt

By Orrick Johns


WHEN night comes I fold my wings,
I must sleep.
When night comes I do not wake
And do not weep.

I drop down like dust that falls	5
By the roads,
Where with green irreverent feet
Pass the toads.

When night comes the phantoms rise—
Fear and Lust;	10
Over me they pass like toads
In the dust.

When night comes I call no bride
To my bed,
Fearful lest I give men life	15
Who are dead!