O Good Tree
Could I live as long as Thee
I might amend mine iniquity
Learn Thy busy simplicity
Undated. The "handsome captive kauri" was a conceit invented by a Herald writer in the 1960s that became one of DMP's stock sayings. DMP was fond of New Zealand native trees and always had a young kauri growing in his garden, whether at Waiohua Road, Gardner Road or Manukau Road. Possibly modelled on William Blake, the contrived "Thy" and "Thee" is evidently meant to signal the Godlike nature of the tree. "Mine iniquity" is a phrase from the King James Bible.
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