Classic Poem

I planted once a young and modest Vine;
An Elm was near it, and they both were mine;
I saw them shoot, and spread their branches wide —
The root their spirit , but the hand their guide .

I watch'd them — and the mountain-goat I chac'd,
That soon would all their beauties have defac'd;
But, on a sudden, by each other held,
My fears, when thus united , they dispell'd.

See how that pliant stem its folds can bend,
And round the Elm unprompted can ascend!
The Muse to these two plants would fain compare
The living union of a married pair .