Good Timber

Good Timber used repetition and personification thought the poem.

The tree was given emotions and struggles like humans have.

The speaker used "Sun" "sky" "light" and "air" when describing both the tree and man. The words were just placed in different order.

Where there is the most most growth and change is where you can see the family lines and what the tree or man is based off of. When the man and tree go through troubles they will create scars that will last and tell stories of how they pushed though difficult times.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.

The poem had four stanzas that contained 6 lines in each.

The rhyme scheme went AA BB CC, "Fight, Light

Plain, Rain

King, Thing"

Good timber does not grow in ease:

The stronger wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain or snow, In Trees and men good timbers grow.

Good Timber

In this stanza the speaker is trying to show that people need troubles and burdens to get stronger. As Douglas says, the stronger wind the stronger trees and the more the storm the more the strength.

Douglas Malloch

The Tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing

The tree was grown in a set spot and did not have to fight for any of the necessities of life. The tree never became any bigger but the tree still survived throughout the hardships.

Toil: Work extremely hard

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

Good Timber does not grow with ease:

The strongest wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storms, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.

The man is just like the tree where he was given this life and did not have to work for it. just like the tree he never bettered himself he just lived like he began

About The Author: Douglas Malloch

Douglas was born in Muskegon, Michigan which is known for the lumbering industry and he grew up around saw mills and forests.

He is an American poet, short story writer and an associate editor of American Lumberman, which is a paper in Chicago .

Married a woman named Helen Miller who was the founder of the National Federation of Press Woman.

He is known for books such as "In Forest Land" and "The Woods"