A new entry in our series on Oak Poetry, this poem by Antonio Machado describes the holm oaks of his native Spain (Quercus rotundifolia and Q. ilex). The common name in Spanish for these trees is encina, which derives from the Latin word ilex, and which originally referred to these oaks, not to hollies.

Previous entries in this series of poems that mention oaks have tended to be complimentary of our favorite genus of trees. In this one, however, the oak plays the anti-hero, proud, haughty, and inflexible opposite the pliant reed that bends but does not break.