Alfred Edward Housman

Additional Poems. 23. The Olive

The olive in its orchard
        Should now be rooted sure,
To cast abroad its branches
        And flourish and endure.

Aloft amid the trenches
        Its dressers dug and died
The olive in its orchard
        Should prosper and abide.

Close should the fruit be clustered
        And light the leaf should wave,
So deep the root is planted
        In the corrupting grave.