The Ivy Wife

The Ivy Wife.
I longed to love a full-boughed beech
And 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 partnership
To one of other race--A plane:
he barked him strip by strip
From upper bough to base;
And me therewith;
for gone my grip,
My arms could not enlace.
In new affection next I strove
To coll an ash I saw,
And he in trust received my love;
Till with my soft green claw
I cramped and bound him as I wove...
Such was my love:
ha-ha!By this I gained his strength and height
Without 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!