Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HART'S HORN TREE, NEAR PENRITH, by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH


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HART'S HORN TREE, NEAR PENRITH, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Here stood an oak, that long had borne affixed
Last Line: Verse that would guard thy memory, hart's-horn tree!
Subject(s): Oak Trees; Scotland


HERE stood an Oak, that long had borne affixed
To his huge trunk, or, with more subtle art,
Among its withering topmost branches mixed,
The palmy antlers of a hunted Hart,
Whom the Dog Hercules pursued -- his part
Each desperately sustaining, till at last
Both sank and died, the life-veins of the chased
And chaser bursting here with one dire smart.
Mutual the victory, mutual the defeat!
High was the trophy hung with pitiless pride;
Say, rather, with that generous sympathy
That wants not, even in rudest breasts, a seat;
And, for this feeling's sake, let no one chide
Verse that would guard thy memory, HART'S-HORN TREE!






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