A Runnable Stag

For a matter of twenty miles and more,

By the densest hedge and the highest wall,

Through herds of bullocks he baffled the lore

Of harbourer, huntsman, hounds and all,

Of harbourer hounds and all —

The stag of warrant, the wily stag,

For twenty miles, and five and five,

He ran, and he never was caught alive,

This stag, this runnable stag.

When he turned at bay in the leafy gloom,

In the emerald gloom where the brook ran deep,

He heard in the distance the rollers boom,

And he saw in a vision of peaceful sleep,

In a wonderful vision of sleep,

A stag of warrant, a stag, a stag,

A runnable stag in a jewelled bed,

Under the sheltering ocean dead,

A stag, a runnable stag.