"A scrub palmetto! cabbage palm!
A worthless sprout but yesterday
Disdaining us with saucy calm!"
The rubber tree now sputtered back
While dropping rootlets scratched the dirt:
"The palm makes bold to grasp the clouds,
With gauzy forms it seeks to flirt."
The rounded cedar, clipped and dwarfed,
Agreed with snickers scarce-repressed:
"A slender form might tempt the clouds,