Uploaded on October 28, 2011
… When but an idle boy
I sought its grateful shade;
In all their gushing joy
Here, too, my sisters played.
My mother kissed me here;
My father pressed my hand—
Forgive this foolish tear,
But let that old oak stand! …
—George Pope Morris
Favorite Poems Old and New
edited by Helen Ferris
10.28.2023: The old oak in my backyard was hit a couple of years ago by brown tail moths, but so far, it seems as though it will win the war.