Lost
loss
isolation
free verse
melancholic
haunting
Desolate and lone All night long on the lake Where fog trails and mist creeps, The whistle of a boat Calls and cries unendingly, Like some lost child In tears and trouble Hunting the harbor's breast And the harbor's eyes.
Lost - context Summary
Published in 1916
Published in Sandburg's 1916 collection Chicago Poems, "Lost" presents a brief, atmospheric scene of a lone boat whistle on a fog-bound lake. The poem frames the sound as a persistent, plaintive call—likened to a lost child—searching for the safety of a harbor. Its compact imagery emphasizes isolation, yearning, and the human impulse to find refuge amid obscuring mist and uncertainty.
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