Bamboo

"Me ol bam-boo, me ol bam-boo Youd better never bother with me ol bam-boo. You can have me hat or me bum-ber-shoo But youd better never bother with me ol bam-boo."

"With bamboo poles we prodded the snake at the head and tail, standing by with the nooses, ready to slip them on when he stirred sufficiently. Before he realized what was happening, we had the head-noose over him."

"The Empress Dowager, who had been painting a design of bamboos on silk when the warrior was announced, dismissed him with contumely. Your tail, she said elliptically, is becoming too heavy to wag."

"A gentlemans got a walking stick. A seamans got a gaff. And the merry men of Robin Hood They used a quarterstaff. On the Spanish plains inside their canes They hide their ruddy swords. But we make do with an old bam-boo And everyone applauds!"

"Unrewarded, my will to serve the State; At my closed door autumn grasses grow. What could I do to ease a rustic heart? I planted bamboos, more than a hundred shoots. When I see their beauty, as they grow by the stream-side, I feel again as though I lived in the hills, And many a time on public holidays Round their railing I walk till night comes. Do not say that their roots are still weak, Do not say that their shade is still small; Already I feel that both in garden and house Day by day a fresher air moves. But most I love, lying near the window-side, To hear in their branches the sound of the autumn-wind."