The olives find the poplars rather haughty
The poplars find the olives rather naughty
This is one of a series of poems that whimsically compare Sir John Logan Campbell's olive trees in Cornwall Park with the poplars on the adjacent terrace on the side of One Tree Hill in Auckland. DMP was fond of confabulating imaginary confrontations between emotional rivals: these stories were a major feature of his charming sense of humour. Dated "Feast of John Baptist. Wednesday", this poem was most likely written after a June 24 winter morning's walk up to the olive grove at the top of Crescent Road.
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