I sit beneath your leaves, old oak, You mighty one of all the trees; Within whose hollow trunk a man Could stable his big horse with ease. I see your knuckles hard and strong, But have no fear they'll come to blows; Your life is long, and mine is short, But which has known the greater woes? Thou hast not seen starved women here, Or man gone mad because ill-fed -- Who stares at stones in city streets, Mistaking them for hunks of bread. Thou hast not felt the shivering backs Of homeless children lying down And sleeping in the cold, night air -- Like doors and walls in London town. Knowing thou hast not known such shame, And only storms have come thy way, Methinks I could in comfort spend My summer with thee, day by day. To lie by day in thy green shade, And in thy hollow rest at night; And through the open doorway see The stars turn over leaves of light. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MAN WITH THE HOE'; A REPLY by JOHN VANCE CHENEY SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: CARL HAMBLIN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS EDITHA by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS ECHOES OF SPRING: 4 by MATHILDE BLIND GRAVE OF HOWARD by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES ON THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES, LORD HERBERT by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |