Woodman, Spare That Tree!
Woodman, spare that tree!Touch not a single bough!In youth it sheltered me,And I’ll protect it now.’Twas my forefather’s handThat placed it near his cot;There, woodman, let it stand,Thy ax shall harm it not.
That old familiar tree,Whose glory and renownAre spread o’er land and sea--And wouldst thou hew it down?Woodman, forbear thy stroke!Cut not its earth-bound ties;Oh, spare that agèd oakNow towering to the skies!
When but an idle boy,I sought its grateful shade;In all their gushing joyHere, too, my sisters played.My mother kissed me here;My father pressed my hand--Forgive this foolish tear,But let that old oak stand.
My heart-strings round thee cling,Close as thy bark, old friend!Here shall the wild-bird sing,And still thy branches bend.Old tree! the storm still brave!And, woodman, leave the spot;While I’ve a hand to save,Thy ax shall harm it not.
Words in this poem
- woodman n.
- A forest officer appointed to take care of the king's woods; a forester. [Eng.]
- 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,]
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Woodman, Spare That Tree! is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Woodman, Spare That Tree!, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/woodman-spare-that-tree.html, id L25278.
Form and metre
Woodman, Spare That Tree! is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCD treeA · boughB · meA · nowB · handC · cotD · standC · notD
- 2 ABABCDCD treeA · renownB · seaA · downB · strokeC · tiesD · oakC · skiesD
- 3 ABABCDCD boyA · shadeB · joyA · playedB · hereC · handD · tearC · standD
- 4 ABABCDCD clingA · friendB · singA · bendB · braveC · spotD · saveC · notD
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 iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Woodman, spare that tree! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Touch not a single bough! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In youth it sheltered me, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And I’ll protect it now. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| ’Twas my forefather’s hand | 6 | ··/·˘· |
| That placed it near his cot; | 6 | ······ |
| There, woodman, let it stand, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thy ax shall harm it not. | 6 | ······ |
| That old familiar tree, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Whose glory and renown | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Are spread o’er land and sea-- | 6 | ······ |
| And wouldst thou hew it down? | 6 | ······ |
| Woodman, forbear thy stroke! | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| Cut not its earth-bound ties; | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, spare that agèd oak | 5 | ····· |
| Now towering to the skies! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When but an idle boy, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I sought its grateful shade; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In all their gushing joy | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Here, too, my sisters played. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| My mother kissed me here; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My father pressed my hand-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Forgive this foolish tear, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| But let that old oak stand. | 6 | ······ |
| My heart-strings round thee cling, | 6 | ······ |
| Close as thy bark, old friend! | 6 | ······ |
| Here shall the wild-bird sing, | 6 | ······ |
| And still thy branches bend. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Old tree! the storm still brave! | 6 | ······ |
| And, woodman, leave the spot; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While I’ve a hand to save, | 6 | ······ |
| Thy ax shall harm it not. | 6 | ······ |
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.