I
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, limp – flexible; boles - trunks
And so they approach the proud tree that bears the death-mark on its side. *
II
Jackets doffed they swing axes and chop away just above ground, doffed – taken off
And the chips fly about and lie white on the moss and fallen leaves; chips – small pieces of
Till a broad deep gash in the bark is hewn all the way round, wood; gash – wound; hewn - cut
And one of them tries to hook upward a rope, which at last he achieves.
III
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.
IV
Then, lastly, the living mast sways, further sways: with a shout mast – long upright pole
Job and Ike rush aside. Reached the end of its long staying powers
The tree crashes downward: it shakes all its neighbours throughout,
And two hundred years' steady growth has been ended in less than two hours.
* death-mark – a chalked or painted mark to show it is to be felled. To throw a tree is to fell a tree, bring it to the ground.
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