Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


POSSESSION by ARTHUR GUITERMAN

First Line: WHEN SOFT I LAY IN THE MOSSY BED
Last Line: "WE ALL BELONG TO THE SWEET, GREEN WOODS!"
Subject(s): ANIMALS; FORESTS; LOVE; NEW YORK CITY - DUTCH PERIOD; WOODS;

@3When soft I lay in the mossy bed
That swells to the foot of the hemlock-tree,
In the pride of a lover's heart I said,
"The sweet, green woods belong to me!"

But the woodchuck gray and the brown-eyed doe
And the chipmunk, rocked on the hazel stem,
And the hare and the deermouse answered, "No!" --
The sweet, green woods belonged to them!

Then the jack-in-the-pulpits, friends of youth,
Looked archly out from their purpling hoods
With an elfin laugh as they told the truth:
"We@1 all @3belong to the sweet, green woods!"@1



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