| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 842. The Cocoa-Tree |
| | | By Charles Warren Stoddard |
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| CAST on the water by a careless hand, | |
| Day after day the winds persuaded me: | |
| Onward I drifted till a coral tree | |
| Stayed me among its branches, where the sand | |
| Gathered about me, and I slowly grew, | 5 |
| Fed by the constant sun and the inconstant dew. | |
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| The sea-birds build their nests against my root, | |
| And eye my slender body’s horny case. | |
| Widowed within this solitary place | |
| Into the thankless sea I cast my fruit; | 10 |
| Joyless I thrive, for no man may partake | |
| Of all the store I bear and harvest for his sake. | |
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| No more I heed the kisses of the morn; | |
| The harsh winds rob me of the life they gave; | |
| I watch my tattered shadow in the wave, | 15 |
| And hourly droop and nod my crest forlorn, | |
| While all my fibres stiffen and grow numb | |
| Beckoning the tardy ships, the ships that never come! | |
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