Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems Edited, with an introduction and notes, by Janet Adam Smith |
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 | Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems |  |
431
The Disputatious Pines
The first pine to the second said
‘My leaves are black, my branches red;
I stand upon this moor of mine,
A hoar, unconquerable pine.’
‘My leaves are black, my branches red;
I stand upon this moor of mine,
A hoar, unconquerable pine.’
The second sniffed and answered ‘Pooh!
I am as good a pine as you.’
I am as good a pine as you.’
‘Discourteous tree,’ the first replied,
‘The tempest in my boughs had cried,
The hunter slumbered in my shade,
A hundred years ere you were made.’
‘The tempest in my boughs had cried,
The hunter slumbered in my shade,
A hundred years ere you were made.’
The second smiled as he returned:
‘I shall be here when you are burned.’
‘I shall be here when you are burned.’
So far dissension ruled the pair,
Each turned on each a frowning air,
When flickering from the bank anigh,
A flight of martins met their eye.
Sometime their course they watched; and then
They nodded off to sleep again.
Each turned on each a frowning air,
When flickering from the bank anigh,
A flight of martins met their eye.
Sometime their course they watched; and then
They nodded off to sleep again.
| Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems | |