"I shook him down because he was The finest on the tree. He lies beside thee on the grass. O kiss him once for me! LXI. "O kiss him twice and thrice for me, That have no lips to kiss, For never yet was oak on lea Step deeper yet in herb and fern, Look further through the chace, Spread upward till thy boughs discern The front of Sumner-place. LXIII. This fruit of thine by Love is blest, That but a moment lay Where fairer fruit of Love may rest Some happy future day. LXIV. I kiss it twice, I kiss it thrice, The warmth it thence shall win To riper life may magnetize The baby-oak within. LXV. But thou, while kingdoms overset, LXVI. May never saw dismember thee, From here to Lizard point. And while he sinks or swells The full south-breeze around thee blow The sound of minster bells. LXIX. The fat earth feed thy branchy root, That under deeply strikes! The northern morning o'er thee shoot, High up, in silver spikes! LXX. Nor ever lightning char thy grain, But, rolling as in sleep, Low thunders bring the mellow rain, That makes thee broad and deep! 19 LXXI. And hear me swear a solemn oath, That only by thy side Will I to Olive plight my troth, And gain her for my bride. LXXII. And when my marriage-morn may fall, In wreath about her hair. LXXIII. And I will work in prose and rhyme, Than bard has honored beech or lime, In which the swarthy ringdove sat, And mystic sentence spoke ; And more than England honors that, |