Classic and Contemporary Poetry
GREEN CROSSES, by ABBIE FARWELL BROWN Poet's Biography First Line: At the back of the pompous houses Last Line: The green cross of love. Subject(s): Christmas Trees | ||||||||
AT the back of the pompous houses, Above the beautiful river-way, A row of squalid barrels Blush at themselves in the morning light. From one grotesquely leaning, Dusty and scarred Amid the dead, forgotten slag and ashes, A fir-tree thrusts its live, protesting fingers -- Crosses of green. About it still cling a few silver cobwebs, Rags of its brief splendor. It was the Christmas Tree That graced the cheerful drawing-room A little while; That blessed the comfortable house with its fragrance, And with its symbols of love, The small green crosses. A pinched, pale child with hungry eyes, Ragged and wolfish, but with wisps of glory Still haloing her hair, Comes with her bag of rubbish. Her eyes brighten; She sets down her heavy burden, She forgets the cold as she picks at the little tree, Plucks eagerly at the fragile cobwebs; They are so silvery few! But they do not go into the heavy sack. Her thin, blue fingers snap one of the green crosses; She twists the tinsel thread about it, And sticks it in her breast. Then she shoulders her bundle of trash, And stumbles away, smiling. The green crosses, alive in the dust! The Christmas Tree! The evergreen tree whose roots are cut -- On the dump it will die! The Christmas Tree! What if this ornament of brief holidays, This plaything of a favored few, This strong, slow-murdered creature of pure woods, With its green crosses, Were really growing! If it were rooted in the hearts Of Christendom! How different a world would see this sunny morning! No war; no hate; No want nor selfishness; No ragged children, starved for tinsel joys, Furtively clutching at rejected beauty On a forgotten cross, The green cross of Love. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHRISTMAS TREE by CECIL DAY LEWIS THE TAKING DOWN by WYATT PRUNTY UPON A DYING LADY by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS CHRISTMAS TREES; A CHRISTMAS CIRCULAR LETTER by ROBERT FROST CHRISTMAS TREES' by GEOFFREY HILL VERSES FOR CHILDREN: CHRISTMAS TREE by ZEDA K. AILES FOR NOEL (WHERE A GATE SWINGS EITHER WAY) by BEULAH ALLYNE BELL THE STARS by MARY CAROLYN DAVIES THE SILKEN SHOE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE A CHARM SAID UNDER AN OAK by ABBIE FARWELL BROWN |
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