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from Moral Emblems, 1882
by Robert Louis Stevenson
III - 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."
The second sniffed and answered: "Pooh!
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 second smiled as he returned:
"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 martens met their eye.
Sometime their course they watched; and then —
They nodded off to sleep again.
Stevenson, Robert. Moral Emblems: And Other Poems
London: Chatto & Windus, 1921. 45.
Luminarium ©1996-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All rights reserved.
This page created on 12 May 2007 by Anniina Jokinen.
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