Page:The Forest Sanctuary.pdf/161

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LAYS OF MANY LANDS.
155


    I saw it fall, as falls a chief
        By an arrrow in the fight,
    And the old woods shook, to their loftiest leaf,
        At the crashing of its might!
And the startled deer to their coverts flew,
And the spray of the lake as a fountain's flew!

    'Tis fall'n! but think thou not I weep
        For the forest's pride o'erthrown:
    An old man's tears lie far too deep,
        To be pour'd for this alone!
But by that sign too well I know,
That a youthful head must soon be low!

    A youthful head, with its shining hair,
        And its bright quick-flashing eye—
    —Well may I weep! for the boy is fair,
        Too fair a thing to die!
But on his brow the mark is set—
Oh! could my life redeem him yet!

    He bounded by me as I gazed
        Alone on the fatal sign.

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