Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967). The Old Huntsman and Other Poems. 1918.

67. Wind in the Beechwood

THE GLORYING forest shakes and swings with glancing

Of boughs that dip and strain; young, slanting sprays

Beckon and shift like lissom creatures dancing,

While the blown beechwood streams with drifting rays.

Rooted in steadfast calm, grey stems are seen

Like weather-beaten masts; the wood, unfurled,

Seems as a ship with crowding sails of green

That sweeps across the lonely billowing world.

O luminous and lovely! Let your flowers,

Your ageless-squadroned wings, your surge and gleam,

Drown me in quivering brightness: let me fade

In the warm, rustling music of the hours

That guard your ancient wisdom, till my dream

Moves with the chant and whisper of the glade.