Mark Scrivener Poetry Blog No 69 The Oak and the Reed

THE OAK AND THE REED

As mentioned in another post the idea of Aesop's fables being children's literature is a relatively modern one. Furthermore they were presented in verse just as often as in prose especially in classical times. Hence, the idea of presenting them as poems has a long and honourable history behind it.

This version of a fable is in iambic tetrameters (di-DUM, di--DUM, di-DUM, di-DUM- for example, once GREW uPON a RIVer BANK This meter is common in ballads as well but rhymed and in stanzas. The fable itself reflects the wisdom of not always rigidly resisting - something expressed in Taoist and martial arts- Yield and overcome, bend and be straight.

The Oak and the Reed by Achille Michallon (from Wikipedia)

THE OAK AND THE REED

A huge, proud, evergreen oak tree

once grew upon a river bank.

For over a hundred years it reared

its mighty branches towards the sky.

Its roots reached down into the firm,

damp darkness of the soil beneath.

They tunnelled and they clung in it

and built a wide and solid base

to hold the trunk of this great tree.

Its thousands of oval leaves all shimmered

in summer sun and drank the light;

when gray clouds grew to hide the sun

and watered all the world, they gathered

fresh raindrops from the stormy sky.

This tall, broad tree had stood against

the buffeting blasts of every wind

that roams the regions of the air.

But one hot afternoon in summer

a powerful storm arose. The sun

soon disappeared behind dark clouds.

Deep thunder drummed, the rain streaked down,

White lightning slashed across the sky.

And as this wild storm grew and grew

a mighty gale blew up and tore

across the wet and trembling world.

At first the great tree stood against

the fury of the howling wind.

It swayed, it shuddered, and it shook,

and some proud,ancient branches broke

and scattered on the ground below.

But in the end the mighty oak

could hold no longer against the gale.

With one brief, powerful crashing sound

the whole tree heeled, then toppled down

and fell into the flooding river.

The great, uprooted broken tree

was borne away by raging waters.

It floated on the roaring river

and drifted downward towards the sea.

The tree went on and on, still riding

the troubled waters of the flood.

till gradually the river broadened

and its swift, swollen flow slowed down.

The oak was large and heavy, so

at last it drifted towards the shallows:

the water near the river bank.

It came to rest amongst the reeds.

The proud tree grew aware of reeds,

all standing round him in the shallows.

He was amazed and wondered how

these slender, weak plants had withstood

the mighty power of the storm.

"But how on earth did you succeed

in standing up against the storm?"

he asked the graceful, swaying reeds.
"I have survived so many storms

but that last one was just too strong."

One of the reeds nearby replied,

"That's just where your approach went wrong,"

it whispered, bending in the breeze,

"For all those years you held your great

and stubborn strength against the gales.

You were too proud to yield and give.

Now we, upon the other hand,
we bend with even the slightest breeze,

we give with even the softest wind,

we yield and yet remain in place.

We bow right to the water's face

when wild winds blow. The wilder the wind

the lower we will bow and let

its mighty force pass over us.

And so it is by yielding we

preserve entirety of form

through times of sudden and fierce storm."