You once stood in the Beechwood green
Stretching your branches wide and high
To catch the morning sun or dew at even
And drink the tears of rain clouds passing by

How often did you deck the steep down's side
And spread your autumn colours all around
How often did you watch the squirrel
Hide the ripening nuts you scattered on the ground

A hundred times or more you must have seen
The seasons change from summers hot to winters cold
Then dressed your naked limbs in lightest green
When spring came once again and made your eager buds unfold

And so you stood in all your stately prime
Shelter for all who came, the Rook, the cooing Dove
And lovers heedless of the passing time
Leaned on your massive bole and spoke their love

Their forebears too had stood with arms entwined
Tracing your naked limbs against the starlight glow
And watched the rising moon that through them shined
Reflect their image on the leaf strewn ground below

Gone are your tresses gay, your sheltering shade
Where met young lovers in the evening hour
And where your golden carpet decked woodland glade
Is overgrown, unkempt, like some old ruined tower