The setting is a tent by a dark, windy lake. Outside, the world feels restless and slightly eerie: trees sway, the lake moans, and a loon’s cry reaches the speaker like the voice of loneliness itself. Inside, though, there is a companion sleeping peacefully, face lit by the embers of a fire. The speaker seems suspended between the wild, lonely night and this quiet human closeness. As the loon’s cry fades, it becomes a farewell from Loneliness, passing into the dark. Then the companion stirs softly and turns toward the speaker, and the loon is silent. The mood is hushed and intimate—melancholy at first, then shifting into comfort. The poem captures how the presence of someone loved can quiet the world’s loneliness.
The Loon's Cry — Summary
Outside the tent Darkness and giant trees swaying in the wind. The lake is moaning in its troubled sleep. And far across the lazy lapping waves, Above the crooning of the wind, I hear a wild loon crying, Like a weary soul alone on the dark water.
Inside the tent Your gentle breathing, Untroubled by crooning wind or wailing loon; Your face is lighted by the embers of the fire.
Fainter and farther away echoes the loon's cry, But now it is only the voice of Loneliness Bidding me farewell, As it passes away into the night.
You stir in your sleep softly And turn your face to me,-- And the loon cries no more.