The expert said the old crabapple tree Should be cut down, for it had served its time; It was a rotten shell, and past its prime; It took the space where a good tree should be. True it was old, but wrapped in dignity When Mother saw it first, in winter's grime; To cut it now would almost be a crime. My Mother's heart told her to disagree. She let it stand, and when the springtime came, A surge of energy which burst in flame From some deep-hidden source the old tree found Of pink and white crabapple blossoms round. The tree was full of beauty undenied, Its harvest bountiful, the year it died. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS ON A THEME: ROMANCE by EDITH SITWELL SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 1 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING HIS IMMORTALITY by THOMAS HARDY HOME, SWEET HOME, FR. CLARI, THE MAID OF MILAN by JOHN HOWARD PAYNE LINES WRITTEN ON HEARING THE NEWS OF THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE DAISY; WRITTEN AT EDINBURGH by ALFRED TENNYSON |