Poem by Edith Matilda Thomas

What the Pine Trees Said

    I heard the swaying pine trees speak,
      As I went down the glen:
    "Next year," said one, "the wind shall seek,
      But find me not again!"

    "I shall go forth upon the seas,
      A mast, or steering-beam;
    On me shall breathe the tropic breeze,
      Above, strange stars shall gleam.'

    "And I--the ax shall cleave my grain,
      And many times divide;
    From my dear brood I'll shed the rain,
      And roof their ingleside."

    Then up and spake a slender shaft,
      That like an arrow grew;
    "No breeze my leafless stem shall waft,
      No ax my trunk shall hew--

    But though a single hour is mine,
      How happy shall I be!
    Young hearts shall leap, young eyes shall shine
      To greet their Christmas tree!"

1. A Christmas Spy
2. Refreshments for Santa Claus
3. A Vain Regret
4. Born Deaf, Dumb, and Blind
5. The Cradle-Child

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