The Whip-poor-will16
Do you remember, father,—
It seems so long ago,—
The day we fished together
Along the Pocono?
At dusk I waited for you,
Beside the lumber-mill,
And there I heard a hidden bird
That chanted, “whip-poor-will,”
“Whippoorwill! whippoorwill!”
Sad and shrill,—“whippoorwill!”
The place was all deserted;
The mill-wheel hung at rest;
The lonely star of evening
Was quivering in the west;
The veil of night was falling;
The winds were folded still;
And everywhere the trembling air
Re-echoed “whip-poor-will!”
“Whippoorwill! whippoorwill!”
Sad and shrill,—“whippoorwill!”
You seemed so long in coming,
I felt so much alone;
The wide, dark world was round me,
And life was all unknown;
The hand of sorrow touched me,
And made my senses thrill
With all the pain that haunts the strain
Of mournful whip-poor-will.
“Whippoorwill! whippoorwill!”
Sad and shrill,—“whippoorwill!”
What did I know of trouble?
An idle little lad;
I had not learned the lessons
That make men wise and sad,
I dreamed of grief and parting,
And something seemed to fill
My heart with tears, while in my ears
Resounded “whip-poor-will.”
“Whippoorwill! whippoorwill!”
Sad and shrill,—“whippoorwill!”
’Twas but a shadowy sadness,
That lightly passed away;
But I have known the substance
Of sorrow, since that day.
For nevermore at twilight,
Beside the silent mill,
I’ll wait for you, in the falling dew,
And hear the whip-poor-will.
“Whippoorwill! whippoorwill!”
Sad and shrill,—“whippoorwill!”
But if you still remember,
In that fair land of light,
The pains and fears that touch us
Along this edge of night,
I think all earthly grieving,
And all our mortal ill,
To you must seem like a boy’s sad dream,
Who hears the whip-poor-will.
“Whippoorwill! whippoorwill!”
A passing thrill—“whippoorwill!”
H. Van Dyke.
Notes
16 From “The Builders, and Other Poems,” copyright, 1897, Charles Scribner’s Sons.