"You think I am dead, " the apple-tree said, "Because I have never a leaf to show,Because I stoop,
And my branches droop,
And the dull, grey mosses over me grow! But I"m all alive in trunk and shoot;The buds of next May I fold away-
But I pity the withered grass at my root. "
"You think I am dead, " the quick grass said, "Because I am withered in stem and blade!
But under the ground I am safe and sound,
With the snow"s thick blanket over me laid. I"m all alive and ready to shootShould the spring of the year Come dancing here,But I pity the flower without branch or root. ""You think I am dead, " a soft voice said, "Because not a branch or root I own!
I never have died, But close I hide
In a plumy seed that the wind has sown. Patient I wait through the long winter hours;You will see me again- I shall laugh at you thenOut of the eyes of a hundred flowers. "
-Enid M. Thomas
About the Author.-Enid Thomas is a modern English writer.
About the Poem.-Who are the three speakers? How can you hear the trees and grasses and flowers? In Australia, do the buds come in May? In what places does snow fall? What plumy seeds are sown by the wind? In what other ways do plants scatter their seeds (think of burrs, and the mud on the claws of water-birds, and seed-pods that go "pop," and thistle- down)?
Suggestions for Verse-speaking.-Divide the class into three parts- the apple trees, the quick grass, and the flowers. What lines sound like happy Spring? What lines sound very different? Make sure you show this difference when you are speaking the lines.