Analysis of The Hanging Tree
It stands in the middle of a forbidden forest
in a clearing surrounded in a circle of stones
The blood of innocents spilled over its roots
It is littered with piles of human bones
The tree, with its branches all dead and gnarled
bore witness to some terrible things
Most people know to stay far away
They all know what kinds of horror it brings
Led to the tree the victims were forced
to walk in their shackles on the cursed ground
Old Judge Crawford ruled with an iron hand
There was no doubt he was the meanest man around
Accused of stealing another man's horse
Farmer Bill Riley was the first to go
The people all knew he was innocent
and the whole town told Judge Crawford so
Their pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears
as the farmer was led to the old dead tree
Right then and there the farmer was hanged
for the whole entire town to see
A shootout occurred in the middle of town
One died and one man ran away
Judge Crawford formed a posse and hunted him down
He hung on the tree that very day
A poor schoolteacher was the next to die
"She's a witch!" the judge shouted aloud
He hung her from that old dead tree
in front of an angry and hostile crowd
Many more people were hung from the tree
by Old Judge Crawford's demands
The town was angry at all he had done
They would take justice in their own hands
One night while the judge slept in his bed
the townspeople barged through the door
They hung Old Judge Crawford from that dead old tree
"He won't hurt anyone else" they solemnly swore
Stay away from the hanging tree
The land is cursed and dead
The only living things that remain
are the ravens that circle overhead
Scheme | XAXA XBCB XDXD XEXE XFXF GCGC XHFH FIXI JKFK FJXJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1100101010010 0010010001011 01110011011 1110111101 0111101101 110111001 110111101 1111111011 110101001 1101101011 1110111101 111111010101 0111001011 1011010111 0101111100 001111101 111101111 10101110111 110101011 101010111 01001001011 11011101 110101001011 111011101 011010111 101011001 11011111 0111100101 1011001101 1111001 0111011111 111100111 111011011 0101101 11111011111 11110111001 10110101 011101 010101101 1010110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,629 |
Words | 322 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 130 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
About this poem
A dark tale about a cursed tree that saw numerous deaths.
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Written on October 14, 2020
Submitted on January 10, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
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"The Hanging Tree" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/117339/the-hanging-tree>.
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