["Copied for Mr. Moore, Jan. 24, 1828."--Note by Miss Pigot.]
[Footnote 1: There is no heading to the original MS., but on the blank
leaf at the end of the poem is written,
"To an oak in the garden of Newstead Abbey, planted by the author in
the 9th year of [his] age; this tree at his last visit was in a state
of decay, though perhaps not irrecoverable."
On arriving at Newstead, in 1798, Byron, then in his
eleventh year, planted an oak, and cherished the fancy, that as the tree
flourished so should he. On revisiting the abbey, he found the oak
choked up by weeds and almost destroyed;--hence these lines. Shortly
after Colonel Wildman took possession, he said to a servant,
"Here is a fine young oak; but it must be cut down, as it grows in an
improper place."
"I hope not, sir, "replied the man, "for it's the one that my lord was
so fond of, because he set it himself."
_Life_, p. 50, note.]
[Footnote i:
_For ages may shine_.
[_MS. Newstead_]]