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    Saga of the oak, and other poems
    Saga of the oak, and other poems
    Saga of the oak, and other poems
    Ebook148 pages50 minutes

    Saga of the oak, and other poems

    By William Henry Venable

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    About this ebook

    This book contains more than sixty poems, with topics as wide-ranging as a jaunt to a fabled land of the fairies to a lamentation dedicated to Dante after the author finished reading Paradiso.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSharp Ink
    Release dateJun 16, 2022
    ISBN9788028207496
    Saga of the oak, and other poems

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      Book preview

      Saga of the oak, and other poems - William Henry Venable

      William Henry Venable

      Saga of the oak, and other poems

      Sharp Ink Publishing

      2022

      Contact: info@sharpinkbooks.com

      ISBN 978-80-282-0749-6

      Table of Contents

      A DIAMOND.

      MY CATBIRD. A CAPRICCIO.

      THE TUNES DAN HARRISON USED TO PLAY.

      FAIRYLAND.

      SUMMER LOVE.

      CLOVER HILL.

      THE WEDDING DEFERRED.

      TO THE LITTLE MIAMI RIVER.

      IMMORTAL BIRDSONG.

      HINCHMAN’S MILL.

      VICTOR.

      THE LAST FLIGHT.

      A GENTLE MAN.

      INVIOLATE.

      FAITH.

      PLATO.

      DANTE. AFTER READING PARADISO.

      WAGNER’S KAISER MARCH. TO THEODORE THOMAS.

      DEFOE IN THE PILLORY.

      WE THE PEOPLE.

      EIGHTY-SEVEN.

      THE FOUNDERS OF OHIO. APRIL, 1888.

      FOREST SONG.

      A BALLAD OF OLD KENTUCKY.

      JOHN FILSON.

      JOHNNY APPLESEED. A Ballad of the Old Northwest.

      WENDING WESTWARD.

      THE TEACHER’S DREAM.

      BY THEIR FRUITS.

      PESTALOZZI.

      THERE IS NO CASTE IN BLOOD.

      VIVA LA GUERRA. April 23, 1898.

      BATTLE CRY. May 1, 1898.

      EL EMPLAZADO.

      RIGHT OF MIGHT.

      JAMES E. MURDOCH. On His Eightieth Birthday.

      THE CONCORD SEER.

      THE POET OF CLOVERNOOK.

      THE GREENFIELD WIZARD. (J. W. R.)

      WILLIAM BAIRD OF RIDGEVILLE.

      LET’S SHAKE. Impromptu.

      A WELCOME TO BOZ. Impromptu.

      THE BOOK AUCTION.

      A GIFT ACKNOWLEDGED. February 19, 1881.

      THE OLD HOMESTEAD.

      JENNIE MOORE.

      ASHES.

      POSY.

      A SNOW BIRD.

      THE UPSET.

      THE SCHOOL GIRL.

      THE READERS.

      WAG. Obiit, February 7, 1878.

      DONATELLO.

      GABRIEL OF SCHWARTZENWALD.

      COFFEA ARABICA.

      AN INDIA SHAWL.

      APOLOGY.

      UNRECONCILED.

      ANNIVERSARY.

      AMAUROTE.

      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 meer,

      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 drear,

      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.

      "Sun-scorch have I borne, and pangs

      From the gnaw of winter’s fangs;

      Fought tornadoes, nor forsook

      Roothold when the mountains shook.

      "Oft the zig-zag thunder hath

      Struck me with his fiery scath,—

      To my core the havoc sped,

      Yet I never bowed my head.

      "I am weary of the years;

      Overthrown are all my peers,

      Slain by steel or storm or flame,—

      I would perish too—the same.

      "Yet shall I a little space

      Linger still in life’s embrace

      Ere metempsychosing time

      Drag me down to Niflheim.

      "Wherefore shun or summon fate?

      Wisest they who sanely wait;

      In my fiber nature saith,

      Life is good and good is death.

      "Mated birds of procreant Spring

      In my branches build and sing;

      Grass is green and flowers bloom

      Where I spread my golden gloom;

      "Happy children round me play;

      Plighted lovers near me stray;

      Insects chirping in the night

      Thrill me with obscure delight;

      "Circling seasons as they run,

      Couriers of the lavish sun,

      Dower me with treasure lent

      By each

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