The Ballad of the Dead Woodcutter

Jack SpicerSad

A Translation for Louis Marbury

Because the figtree was sapless It has cracked at the root.

Oh, you have fallen down on your head You have fallen on your head.

Because the oaktree was rootless It has cracked at the branch.

Oh, you have fallen down on your head You have fallen on your head.

Because I walked through the branches I have scratched out my heart.

Oh, you have fallen down on your head You have fallen on your head.

Jack Spicer

SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)

Mood:: Sad
Topics:: death, tree, heart, branch, root

What is this poem about?

Summary

Three times the poem sets up a small cause-and-effect: a tree is sapless, so it cracks at the root; another is rootless, so it cracks at the branch. Each time, the logic sounds almost like a folk saying, neat and inevitable. Then a refrain cuts in, and it's the same every time: someone has fallen on their head. The repeated line feels like a chant or a lament, circling back to the one fact that can't be changed.

The shift comes in the last stanza, when the speaker says "I walked through the branches" and has "scratched out my heart." Suddenly the trees aren't just trees. The speaker seems to be grieving, and the damage is personal. The poem never says who the woodcutter is or how he died, which leaves the loss feeling raw and unexplained. The mood is stark and mournful, with a ballad's singsong rhythm that makes the grief feel strangely calm, as if sorrow has turned into ritual.

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