Page:Poems - Tennyson (1843) - Volume 2 of 2.djvu/78

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66
THE TALKING OAK.

viii.

Hail, hidden to the knees in fern,

Broad Oak of Sumner-chace,
Whose topmost branches can discern
The roofs of Sumner-place!

ix.

Say thou, whereon I carved her name,

If ever maid or spouse,
As fair as my Olivia, came
To rest beneath thy boughs.—

x.

"O Walter, I have shelter'd here

Whatever maiden grace
The good old Summers, year by year,
Made ripe in Sumner-chace:

xi.

"Old Summers, when the monk was fat,

And, issuing shorn and sleek,
Would twist his girdle tight, and pat
The girls upon the cheek,