The Gallows
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Adapted from "The Gallows" by Edward Thomas

There was a weasel lived in the sun
With all his family,
Till a keeper shot him with his gun
And hung him up on a tree,
Where he swings in the wind and the rain,
In the sun, in the snow

There was a crow who was no sleeper,
But a thief and a murderer
Till late hour; and this keeper
Made him one of the things that were,
To hang and flap in the rain and the wind,
In the sun

Without pleasure, without pain,
On the dead oak tree bough.

There was a magpie, a magpie, too,
Had a long tongue and tail;
He could both talk, both talk and do---
But what did that avail?
He, too, flaps in the wind and the rain
In the sun

And many other beasts
And birds, skin, bone, and feather,
Taken from their feasts
And hung up there together,

All hung up there together,
Hung up there together on the...
To swing in endless leisure
Without pain or pleasure

There are no more sins to be sinned
On the dead oak tree bough.