Evening Waterfall
What is the name you called me?-- And why did you go so soon? The crows lift their caws on the wind, And the wind changed and was lonely. The warblers cry their sleepy-songs Across the valley gloaming, Across the cattle-horns of early stars. Feathers and people in the crotch of a treetop Throw an evening waterfall of sleepy-songs. What is the name you called me?-- And why did you go so soon?
Evening Waterfall - meaning Summary
Longing in Twilight Sound
This short lyric registers a brief, aching address to an absent figure through evening sound. Sandburg frames longing with repeated questions and layered bird imagery: crows, warblers and feathers combine to make a valley of “sleepy-songs.” The landscape’s noises become a surrogate voice and a cause of loneliness, turning natural detail into emotional atmosphere and suggesting loss, departure, and an unresolved call toward someone who has gone.
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