A splash on the dusky water,
A cry on the winter air,
As from the pit abyssmal
Rises a soul's despair.

The human ghouls of midnight
Shiver beneath the snow,
The painted women in terror
Stand, and listen, and — go.

Up in the deep of heaven,
Gloomy and ghostly grey,
The cry of the lost one falters —
Falters, and dies away.

Only a cry in the darkness,
Only a swirl in the tide,
Only a sinful woman
Crossing the Great Divide!