The two executioners stalk along over the knolls,

Bearing two axes With heavy heads shining and wide,

And a long limp two-handled saw toothed for cutting great boles,

And so they approach the proud tree that bears the death-mark on its side.

Jackets doffed. they swing axes and chop away Just above ground,

And the chips fly about and lie white on the moss and fallen leaves;

Till a broad deep gash in the bark hewn all the way round,

And one of them tries to hook upward a rope. which at last he achieves.

The saw then begins, till the top of the tall giant shivers:

The shivers are seen to grow greater with each cut than before:

They edge out the saw, tug the rope: but the tree only quivers,

And kneeling and sawing again., they step back to try pulling once more.

Then, lastly, the living mast sways. further sways: with a shout

Job and Ike rush aside. Reached the end of its long staying powers

tree crashes downward: it shakes all its neighbours throughout,

And two hundred years' steady growth has been ended in less than two hours.