:before{ content:;)

Question

Master...
How i give tag <hr> to content of css so i will have a horizontal line before link ?

If i give in string, the result is not horizontal line...
Ex:
css: a:before{content:"<hr>"}
html: <a href=""> IT IS A LINK</a>
// result : <hr>IT IS A LINK

Or i give out of string, the result is none,
What's the solution?