# Arbor Day explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A short, satirical poem that twists the celebration of Arbor Day into a darkly humorous threat against a School Director, suggesting the planted trees will one day bear his hanged body.

## Themes in this chapter

### Political Satire

The poem uses the innocent tradition of Arbor Day to mock authority figures, implying violent retribution against a School Director.

## Key lines

> Hasten, children, black and white⁠— Celebrate the yearly rite. Every pupil plant a tree: It will grow some day to be Big and strong enough to bear A School Director hanging there.

Children of all races, hurry to observe Arbor Day by planting trees that will eventually become sturdy enough to hang the School Director.

_The poem subverts the environmental message of Arbor Day with a macabre fantasy of execution._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/arbor-day
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters