The Haunted Oak
Pray why are you so bare, so bare,Oh, bough of the old oak-tree;And why, when I go through the shade you throw,Runs a shudder over me?
My leaves were green as the best, I trow,And sap ran free in my veins,But I saw in the moonlight dim and weirdA guiltless victim's pains.
I bent me down to hear his sigh;I shook with his gurgling moan,And I trembled sore when they rode away,And left him here alone.
They 'd charged him with the old, old crime,And set him fast in jail:Oh, why does the dog howl all night long,And why does the night wind wail?
He prayed his prayer and he swore his oath,And he raised his hand to the sky;But the beat of hoofs smote on his ear,And the steady tread drew nigh.
Who is it rides by night, by night,Over the moonlit road?And what is the spur that keeps the pace,What is the galling goad?
And now they beat at the prison door,"Ho, keeper, do not stay!We are friends of him whom you hold within,And we fain would take him away
"From those who ride fast on our heelsWith mind to do him wrong;They have no care for his innocence,And the rope they bear is long."
They have fooled the jailer with lying words,They have fooled the man with lies;The bolts unbar, the locks are drawn,And the great door open flies.
Now they have taken him from the jail,And hard and fast they ride,And the leader laughs low down in his throat,As they halt my trunk beside.
Oh, the judge, he wore a mask of black,And the doctor one of white,And the minister, with his oldest son,Was curiously bedight.
Oh, foolish man, why weep you now?'Tis but a little space,And the time will come when these shall dreadThe mem'ry of your face.
I feel the rope against my bark,And the weight of him in my grain,I feel in the throe of his final woeThe touch of my own last pain.
And never more shall leaves come forthOn a bough that bears the ban;I am burned with dread, I am dried and dead,From the curse of a guiltless man.
And ever the judge rides by, rides by,And goes to hunt the deer,And ever another rides his soulIn the guise of a mortal fear.
And ever the man he rides me hard,And never a night stays he;For I feel his curse as a haunted bough,On the trunk of a haunted tree.
Words in this poem
- trow v. i.
- To believe; to trust; to think or suppose. [OE. trowen, AS.treówan to trust, believe, fr. treów trust, treówe true, faithful. See True.]
- guiltless a.
- Free from guilt; innocent.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- moonlit a.
- Illumined by the moon.
- galling a.
- Fitted to gall or chafe; vexing; harassing; irritating.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- jailer n.
- The keeper of a jail or prison. [OE. jailer, gailer, OF. geolier, F. geôlier. See Jail.]
- unbar v. t.
- To remove a bar or bars from; to unbolt; to open; as, to unbar a gate. Heber. [1st pref. un- + bar.]
- curiously adv.
- In a curious manner.
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- throe n.
- Extreme pain; violent pang; anguish; agony; especially, one of the pangs of travail in childbirth, or purturition. [OE. , , AS. a threatening, oppression, suffering, perhaps influenced by Icel. a throe, a pang, a longing; cf. AS. to suffer.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Haunted Oak is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Haunted Oak, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-haunted-oak.html, id L00786.
Form and metre
The Haunted Oak is 64 lines in 16 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A bare · treeA · throw · meA
- 2 -A-A trow · veinsA · weird · painsA
- 3 -A-A sigh · moanA · away · aloneA
- 4 -A-A crime · jailA · long · wailA
- 5 -A-A oath · skyA · ear · nighA
- 6 -A-A night · roadA · pace · goadA
- 7 -A-A door · stayA · within · awayA
- 8 -A-A heels · wrongA · innocence · longA
- 9 -A-A words · liesA · drawn · fliesA
- 10 -A-A jail · rideA · throat · besideA
- 11 -A-A black · whiteA · son · bedightA
- 12 -A-A now · spaceA · dread · faceA
- 13 -A-A bark · grainA · woe · painA
- 14 -A-A forth · banA · dead · manA
- 15 -A-A by · deerA · soul · fearA
- 16 -A-A hard · heA · bough · treeA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Pray why are you so bare, so bare, | 8 | ········ |
| Oh, bough of the old oak-tree; | 7 | ······· |
| And why, when I go through the shade you throw, | 10 | ·········· |
| Runs a shudder over me? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| My leaves were green as the best, I trow, | 9 | ········· |
| And sap ran free in my veins, | 7 | ······· |
| But I saw in the moonlight dim and weird | 10 | ·····/···· |
| A guiltless victim's pains. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I bent me down to hear his sigh; | 8 | ········ |
| I shook with his gurgling moan, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And I trembled sore when they rode away, | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| And left him here alone. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| They 'd charged him with the old, old crime, | 9 | ········· |
| And set him fast in jail: | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, why does the dog howl all night long, | 9 | ········· |
| And why does the night wind wail? | 7 | ······· |
| He prayed his prayer and he swore his oath, | 9 | ········· |
| And he raised his hand to the sky; | 8 | ········ |
| But the beat of hoofs smote on his ear, | 9 | ········· |
| And the steady tread drew nigh. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who is it rides by night, by night, | 8 | ········ |
| Over the moonlit road? | 6 | ···/·· |
| And what is the spur that keeps the pace, | 9 | ········· |
| What is the galling goad? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And now they beat at the prison door, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| "Ho, keeper, do not stay! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We are friends of him whom you hold within, | 10 | ·········· |
| And we fain would take him away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "From those who ride fast on our heels | 8 | ······/· |
| With mind to do him wrong; | 6 | ······ |
| They have no care for his innocence, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| And the rope they bear is long." | 7 | ······· |
| They have fooled the jailer with lying words, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| They have fooled the man with lies; | 8 | ···˘···· |
| The bolts unbar, the locks are drawn, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And the great door open flies. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Now they have taken him from the jail, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And hard and fast they ride, | 6 | ······ |
| And the leader laughs low down in his throat, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| As they halt my trunk beside. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Oh, the judge, he wore a mask of black, | 9 | ········· |
| And the doctor one of white, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the minister, with his oldest son, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Was curiously bedight. | 7 | ·/˘˘˘˘/ |
| Oh, foolish man, why weep you now? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Tis but a little space, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the time will come when these shall dread | 9 | ········· |
| The mem'ry of your face. | 6 | ······ |
| I feel the rope against my bark, | 8 | ········ |
| And the weight of him in my grain, | 8 | ········ |
| I feel in the throe of his final woe | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The touch of my own last pain. | 7 | ······· |
| And never more shall leaves come forth | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On a bough that bears the ban; | 7 | ······· |
| I am burned with dread, I am dried and dead, | 10 | ·········· |
| From the curse of a guiltless man. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ever the judge rides by, rides by, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And goes to hunt the deer, | 6 | ······ |
| And ever another rides his soul | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In the guise of a mortal fear. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ever the man he rides me hard, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And never a night stays he; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| For I feel his curse as a haunted bough, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| On the trunk of a haunted tree. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.