Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WHITE BIRCH, by GLADYS GUILFORD SCOTT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WHITE BIRCH, by                    
First Line: The young white birch was slender and frail
Last Line: Splashing her leaves at the sky.
Subject(s): Storms


The young white birch was slender and frail --
So slight a tree, in so fierce a gale! --
And I, through the window, sheltered warm,
Watched her writhe in the screaming storm;
Through the pounding gray, saw a flash of white,
Tortured and twisted, yet holding tight,
'Til I longed to open my window -- wide --
And coax the little white birch inside.

Her leaves were small, and their edges curled;
Far too small to be tossed and whirled
In a wind that twisted them all awry --
Delicate leaves, that would bruise and die
If a bird, asleep in their branches, dreamed --
So pale, so fragile, so young they seemed.

Yet she flaunted them forth in a saucy way,
And only seven were blown astray.
She clung to the rest with a stubborn pride,
However the blustering storm-winds cried,
And however harsh the threatening blast --
Her little twig-fingers held them fast.
Then a telephone call, and an errand to go,
And what happened to her I shall never know ...
Whether broken and conquered she fell, at last,
Or rose, head-up, when the storm went past.
I'll never be sure, and I wish I knew,
But this, at least, was certainly true:
That a slim white stem, on the wind rode high --
Splashing her leaves at the sky.





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