Throwing a Tree
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 is hewn all the way round,
And one of them tries to hook upwards 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 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
The tree crashes downward: it shakes all its neighbours through
out,
And two hundred years’ steady growth has been ended in less than two
hours.
—Thomas Hardy
New Forest
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 is hewn all the way round,
And one of them tries to hook upwards 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 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
The tree crashes downward: it shakes all its neighbours through
out,
And two hundred years’ steady growth has been ended in less than two
hours.
—Thomas Hardy
In “Throwing a Tree,” the poet uses personification, a literary device that uses human qualities to describe an object. Give at least two examples of personification used in the poem. Explain why each is an example of personification. Support your answer with important details from
the poem.
the poem.
