The Ivy-Wife

I LONGED to love a full-boughed beechAnd be as high as he:I stretched an arm within his reach,And signalled unity.But with his drip he forced a breach,And tried to poison me.

I gave the grasp of partnershipTo one of other race—

A plane: he barked him strip by stripFrom upper bough to base;And me therewith; for gone my grip,My arms could not enlace.

In new affection next I stroveTo coll an ash I saw,And he in trust received my love;Till with my soft green clawI cramped and bound him as I wove . . .Such was my love: ha-ha!

By this I gained his strength and heightWithout his rivalry.But in my triumph I lost sightOf afterhaps. Soon he,Being bark-bound, flagged, snapped, fell outright,And in his fall felled me!