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Washington and the Cherry Tree

from Legends of Liberty, Volume 3

Young George chopped down his father’s cherry tree,
Not knowing that a woman lived inside.
While playing with his hatchet, too carefree
Out in the garden plot, he swung in wide
And chipped a piece of bark from off the trunk.
Some sap began to pour out in a flood;
The wounded tree fell over with a ‘plunk.’
A nymph arose. She flowed with flowered buds
Of blonde, a mistress of lush primavera,
Her alabaster face unblemished by mascara.

George dropped his hatchet on the ground and stared.
Green tendrils crept upon her glowing gown.
She sighed, exhaling roses, and declared:
“I’m Flora (Chloris formerly), the crown
Goddess of Spring—and you’ve destroyed my home.
This cherry tree had some delicious yields.”
She brushed her golden hair with a bark comb.
“One like it grew in the Elysian Fields.
What should I do with you, young vernal vandal?
I’ve turned men into flowers for a lesser scandal.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t know,” George said.
—“Do you like flowers?” —“Yes, I treasure them.”
—“Liar. How often at your mother’s bed
Of tulips have you severed bulb from stem?”
The goddess asked. “I’ve watched your hatchet swish!
Don’t worry though, my aim is not to punish…
In fact, I’ll grant you anything you wish.”
Young George impressed a whim her will might publish:
“I want to be a soldier, brave and true.”
“So be it,” Flora said. “All heroes you’ll outdo.”

She waved her comb as if it were a wand,
Then brushed her hair some more, and added, “But…
The softer side of life, as well, will bond
You to my nature, ease your martial strut:
If any time this plot should cease to grow
At Mount Vernon, you’ll turn into a rose.”
George cried, “You promised not to punish, though!”
Her (shrugging): “‘Brave and true’—choice words. Your pose
Will match them, never slouching in the truth.”
With that, she fertilized the wind and left the youth.

“Do you know,” asked his father the next day,
“Who felled my cherry tree out in the yard?”
George said unwavering, “Why yes…I may,”
While thinking of an answer long and hard.
The cook. The maid. The gardener. A slave.
Recovering his charming, sweet expression,
He looked his father in the eye with brave
Deceit to speak a name and silence questions—
But to his thoughts his lips would not comply.
“Oh, it’s no use,” George said. “I cannot tell a lie.”

His father hugged him in a tight embrace.
“My son! For once you’ve fused that silver tongue
With honesty—it melts your deed’s disgrace.
Truth is a lovely feature in the young!”
George tried responding, muffled: “Icantbreathe.”
To sentimental moods he was averse—
Feelings at least were something he could sheathe.
The rest was open to the dryad’s curse.
Regardless of its usefulness or not,
He’d practice from now on what most had only taught.

.

.

Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American Revolution if he lives to complete it. Though he writes history articles for American Essence magazine, he lists his primary occupation on official forms as ‘poet.’ He is, in other words, a vagabond.

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25 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    What an amazing storyteller you are! Each sentence seems to come alive with vim and vigor infused. Your creative cleverness is reflected by each word and line of exquisite poetry that dazzles the reader. Please accept my encomiums for such a lavish display of talent that continues to shine with each posting.

    Reply
    • jd

      I completely agree with Roy’s every word. This is a wonderful “tease” for reading the entire Epic. Thank you.

      Reply
    • ABB

      Hard to have an aversion to encomiums. Thanks Roy and jd. More on the way.

      Reply
  2. James Sale

    More laughs, more deft touches from the marvellous Benson Brown. I love ‘young vernal vandal’ and the sight gag of “Icantbreathe.”. Linguistically, so inventive and unexpected too (wherein resides, of course, true wit). Volume 3 of Legends of L. proposes to be the masterpiece that tops the other two. We need more of this – to read it is an antidote to the dour, fun-less-ness of woke ideology!

    Reply
    • ABB

      Thanks James. Vol. 3 will be the thing, yes. Took a while to build up to this and will take a while to finish this one. Slowly but surely.

      Reply
  4. Sally Cook

    I love the idea of dryads in trees
    I’ve always believed that that they lived there, you see
    In quartets so small that would give us no ease
    Yet there they live neatly, completely at ease.

    AB, you have given a simple old tale
    The sparkle it needed; I praise you for that
    I trust you to always create, never rail
    And make of each tree nymph a sylph, not a bat.

    Reply
    • ABB

      Thanks for the verses, Sally. For sure, history is more fun with dryads.

      Reply
  5. Joseph S. Salemi

    This is a wonderful development of fantasy in connection with the Parson Weems fable. I’m dazzled, as always, by ABB’s sophisticated and expert diction.

    The Roman goddess of flowers was Flora, just as their goddess of apples was Pomona. Divinity was intricately interwoven with natural phenomena.

    Reply
    • ABB

      Took some inspiration from Ovid’s ‘Fasti’ here. Seeing the Divine in all things is a good antidote to despair, though I’m sure the evangelicals won’t appreciate my pagan references. Not that they’ll be reading this.

      Reply
  6. Margaret Coats

    Nice move, Andrew, to classicize Washington still more smoothly with a lovely description of Flora or Chloris. She speaks to the little vernal vandal George (who cannot tell a lie) in a manner as potentially deceitful as the Delphic Pythia. Quite truthfully, I would recommend “She (shrugging)” in the fourth stanza presented here.

    Reply
    • ABB

      Appreciate the recommendation, Margaret, and have made the change in the main document. Thanks for catching.

      Reply
  7. Shamik Banerjee

    This poem would make for a great inclusion in academic books. The execution is flawless, and the plot’s progression has an essence that strongly grips a reader. It does fantastic both in terms of message delivery and storytelling. I especially enjoyed certain rhyme pairs such as primavera-mascara, brave-slave, and swish-punish. Thanks for this, Andrew.

    Reply
    • ABB

      Thanks, Shamik. Probably a long shot to get in academic books at this point, unless we are writing those books ourselves or taking back the academy. Which needs to happen.

      Reply
  9. Daniel Kemper

    Keep ’em rolling, man. I know how hard it is to make it look easy, let alone fun. But clearly a labor of love, and a niche in dire need of expanding. I was musing the other day, that it’s quite American in character to have a national epic that blends with as many scoops of irony and fun as it has classicism!

    Reply
    • ABB

      I originally wrote this passage a few years ago, before I’d even started Volume 2. But then I revised it heavily more recently. Editing is everything!

      Reply
  10. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Andrew, you have swept me up and carried me away in your tantalizing triumph of a tale littered with linguistic twists and turns that capture the essence of a piece of history with poetic aplomb. You always make me smile – “vernal vandal” is superb, but it was that mascara line that got me… “She flowed with flowered buds /Of blonde, a mistress of lush primavera, / Her alabaster face unblemished by mascara.” This says all we need to know about beauty in its purest form in a way so fabulously unique it shines. Great stuff!

    Reply
    • ABB

      Susan, your alliterative prose is profoundly alluring. Been taking lessons from a few of you here. You might call my wordplay ‘Bryantesque.’

      Reply
  11. Brian A. Yapko

    I’m sorry for coming so late to your poem, Andrew, which I have read several times — and always with increasing joy. Your blend of myths and mythology is a delight. Because the youthfulness and truthfulness of George Washington are both at issue, we can wonder whether this was a true event or a child’s fantasy. Rowling’s Dumbledore says “Of course it’s all in your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean it isn’t real?” And so I accept that it really happened, and really happened the way you describe: Myth synthesized with myth and so something entirely new. How remarkable! The only thing that comes to mind in this regard for me is Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” which takes fiction and fuses it with other fiction, the difference being, of course, that Washingon was historical and Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella were not.

    The other thing about this piece is it’s sheer charm. The character of Boy Washington rings true as does the lesson he learns from a uniquely generous father. I very much enjoyed this excerpt and look forward to reading the whole. As you know, I’m still in the process of reading Legends of Liberty, Part 1 and find that it gives me reason to smile every time I pick it up.

    Reply
    • ABB

      Thanks Brian. Ha, I don’t expect to re-convince anyone of the truthfulness of this tale itself, but at its core it is charming. When Parson Weems wrote it he claimed to have heard it from an old woman who had worked on the estate. Washington didn’t live at Mount Vernon at this point, since he inherited it later, but he would have visited there. In any case, the obligation to truthfulness will make for interesting narrative choices.

      Look forward to your thoughts on Volume 1, much appreciated.

      Reply
  12. Michael Pietrack

    ABB, you’re so good at weaving of history and humor, rhythm and rhyme.

    I really liked this line: Feelings at least were something he could sheathe.

    I enjoyed both of your Legands of Liberty books. Keep up the great work.

    Reply

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