# Arboriculture explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce. ## What happens The chapter presents a defiant poetic defense of Joaquin Miller's plan to plant trees in a Maltese cross formation on Goat Island, with the speaker arrogantly claiming credit for the existence of forests and insisting the trees will grow despite skepticism. ## Themes in this chapter ### Nature and Artifice The chapter contrasts natural forests with the artificial planting of trees in a Maltese cross shape, questioning whether human intervention can succeed. ### Deception and Self-Deception The speaker's boastful and exaggerated claims about their role in creating forests suggest a self-deceptive or ironic tone. ## Key lines > You may say they won’t grow, and say they’ll decay⁠— Say it again till you’re sick of the say, Get up on your ear, blow your blaring bazoo And hire a hall to proclaim it; and you May stand on a stump with a lifted hand As a pine may stand or a redwood stand, And stick to your story and cheek it through. Critics can repeat their doubts endlessly, make public speeches, and stand firm like a tree in their opinion, but the speaker remains unmoved. _The speaker dismisses skeptics who claim the trees will not grow._ > But I point with pride to the far divide Where the Snake from its groves is seen to glide⁠— To Mariposa’s arboreal suit, And the shaggy shoulders of Shasta Butte, And the feathered firs of Siskiyou; And I swear as I sit on my marvelous hair⁠— I roll my marvelous eyes and swear, And sneer, and ask where would your forests be To-day if it hadn’t been for me! The speaker proudly references various forests and mountains, then arrogantly claims that without them, those forests would not exist. _The speaker takes personal credit for the existence of forests._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/arboriculture - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters