Saga of the Oak and Other Poems

William Henry Venable

9781465653567

208 pages

Library of Alexandria

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Overview

HOARSELY to the midnight moon Voiced the oak his rugged rune: “Harken, sibyl Moon, to me; Hear the saga of the Tree. “Thou, O queen of splendor, must Pale and crumble back to dust; Through slow eons diest thou,— Doomsday craves my vitals now. “I am scion of a line Old, imperial, divine; Earth produced my ancestor Ere great Odin was, or Thor. “From the hursts of holy oak Fateful gods of Asgard spoke; In the consecrated shade Bard and Druid sang and prayed. “Fostered in an oaken womb Slept Trifingus, sword of doom; Therewith woaded Caratak Drave the steel-sarked Roman back. “Where, profaned by legioned foes, In the shuddering forest rose Mona’s altars flaming rud, Britain drowned her woe in blood. “Then the dread decree of Norn Sounded in the groves forlorn; Vikings swooping from the North Harried every scaur and forth. “Forests fell with crash and roar, Masted galiots spurned the shore, Dragon-breasted,—swum the mere, Daring danger, scouting fear. “Hengist’s brood and Horsa’s kin, Seed of Garmund, sons of Finn, Dane and Saxon sail and sweep Battling o’er the wrathful deep; “Hearts of oak! their valor gave Right of might to rule the wave, Gave to Nelson’s ocean war Copenhagen, Trafalgar! “Bray of trumpet! roll of drum! When shall Balder’s kingdom come? Bitter sap shall when grow sweet In the acorn at my feet? “Centuries do I stand here Thinking thoughts profound and dear, Dreaming solemn dreams sublime Of the mysteries of Time. “Roots of mine do feed on graves; I have eaten bones of braves; In the ground the learnéd gnomes Read to me their cryptic tomes. “Annals treasured in the air All the past to me declare; Every wind of heaven brings Tribute for me on its wings. “Through my silence proud and lone Whispers waft from the Unknown: Musing eld hath second ken— Moon! the dead shall live again.