Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By JoaquinMiller

805 Dead in the Sierras

HIS footprints have failed us,

Where berries are red,

And madroños are rankest,—

The hunter is dead!

The grizzly may pass

By his half-open door;

May pass and repass

On his path, as of yore;

The panther may crouch

In the leaves on his limb;

May scream and may scream,—

It is nothing to him.

Prone, bearded, and breasted

Like columns of stone;

And tall as a pine—

As a pine overthrown!

His camp-fires gone,

What else can be done

Than let him sleep on

Till the light of the sun?

Ay, tombless! what of it?

Marble is dust,

Cold and repellent;

And iron is rust.