Lyric Poem · Nature

The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top

by Stephen Crane

Reading room

1The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top

2Blood — blood and torn grass —

3Had marked the rise of his agony —

4This lone hunter.

5The grey-green woods impassive

6Had watched the threshing of his limbs.

7A canoe with flashing paddle,

8A girl with soft searching eyes,

9A call: "John!"

10. . . . .

11Come, arise, hunter!

12Can you not hear?

13The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top.

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“The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top” by Stephen Crane — quilloak.com/poems/the-chatter-of-a-death-demon-from-a-tree-top

Quick facts

Poem: The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top
Poet: Stephen Crane
Length: 13 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Death & Loss

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 13 lines · 4 stanzas of 1–6 lines
Refrains: “The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top”“The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

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Author record: Stephen Crane1871–1900
Source record: PoetryDBThe chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top by stephen-crane, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 2fdc8d48586b5a11…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Death & Loss

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