Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE HANGING TREE, by GEORGIA PERLE SCHMIDT First Line: A gnarled old tree trunk with shoots Last Line: "forgives and saves the soul." Alternate Author Name(s): Schmidt, G. Perle Subject(s): Capital Punishment; Trees; Hanging; Executions; Death Penalty | ||||||||
A gnarled old tree trunk with shoots Sticking straight up like the quills Of the porcupine that gnaw its many Years' seasoned wood. It is long Since in this southern clime It was a tall wide-branched tree Draped with Spanish moss and vine. A tree that stood in solitude Where nettles, cacti, mesquite And Queen Anne's Lace twined With Indian Carpet to hide the place Where wolves and coyotes growled And snarled over the morsels dropped When the buzzards quarreled. Today the tale is told: "This once was called the Hanging Tree. Here men died, who wanted life. Men who stole or shot or loved Died here on this virgin plot. Died with ropes around their necks Sent to death by mobs gone wild." Horses lathered with dust and foam Bore here men with wide-brimmed hats, Men who enforced the law; the law Of the lariats. Now we pause to stare In awe at death's trysting tree, to read On a carved stone scroll, "To the memory Of the Outlaw. Names unknown. God alone Forgives and saves the soul." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE NEGATIVES by PHILIP LEVINE ALL LIFE IN A LIFE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE EXECUTION OF MAXIMILIAN by ARTHUR SZE TWO FUNERALS: 2. by LOUIS UNTERMEYER BALLADE OF THE MEN WHO WERE HANGED by FRANCOIS VILLON EPITAPH IN BALLADE FORM by FRANCOIS VILLON VILLON'S EPITAPH by FRANCOIS VILLON ENVISIONED MEMORIES by GEORGIA PERLE SCHMIDT THE BALLAD OF WILLIAM SYCAMORE (1790-1880) by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET |
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