JOTHAM'S PARABLE

The trees resolved that they should choose   
Their own anointed king -                 
A king they would not dare refuse                
To serve in everything.                      

Asking the olive they began:             
“No I will not forsake            
My oil which honours God and man             
For my own title’s sake”.                  

The fig-tree they asked secondly:                  
“I will not leave fruit             
And sweetness for a king’s display   
Which will not contribute”.   

Thirdly, they spoke unto the vine:     
“I have new wine to please    
Both God and man, so I decline        
To wave above the trees”.     

But finally they asked the thorn:       
“Have confidence in me;       
Rest in my shade. But if you scorn    
Fire will devour each tree”.

DCB in Poet's Glen on the edge
of the Pentland Hills