GREEN LEAVES
They were on silent sentry go,
Coolly watching the human foe.
Stiffly and silently, as we sped,
They watched with their green eyes overhead.
Coolly watching the human foe.
Stiffly and silently, as we sped,
They watched with their green eyes overhead.
III.
High on a hill, as we swept by,
We saw green trees buttress the sky,
Stiff and terrible and high,
And in no human way serene.
The sky was gray, but the living sheen
Tortured our eyes. And then the keen
Unsparing sun flung his aureole
Around each rooted living soul. . . .
We scarce dared look upon the whole,
So painfully, passionately green.
But one shade brighter, and those high
Green flames would burn the tortured sky.
High on a hill, as we swept by,
We saw green trees buttress the sky,
Stiff and terrible and high,
And in no human way serene.
The sky was gray, but the living sheen
Tortured our eyes. And then the keen
Unsparing sun flung his aureole
Around each rooted living soul. . . .
We scarce dared look upon the whole,
So painfully, passionately green.
But one shade brighter, and those high
Green flames would burn the tortured sky.
IV.
Circling the city's tree-cleared space
The forests peer with covetous face,
The forests creep with wolfish pace,
Faltering, wily, and yet elate.
Circling the city's tree-cleared space
The forests peer with covetous face,
The forests creep with wolfish pace,
Faltering, wily, and yet elate.
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