The sonnet draws from Psalm 1, contrasting the fates of the righteous and the wicked through vivid natural imagery. The righteous are depicted as a thriving tree, rooted deeply by a stream, with lush leaves and ripe fruit, symbolizing a soul nourished by wisdom and divine law, resilient and flourishing under heaven’s light. In contrast, the wicked are portrayed as chaff, rootless and dry, scattered by the wind across a barren plain, fading into dust as fleeting, lost shadows. The poem highlights the enduring prosperity of the godly versus the transient, empty existence of the unrighteous.

Beside the stream, a tree stands tall and green,
Its roots plunge deep where crystal waters flow,
With leaves that gleam beneath a sunlit sheen,
And fruits that ripen in a golden glow.
So thrives the soul who drinks of wisdom’s spring,
Whose heart delights in truth’s unyielding law,
A steadfast oak, unbowed by storm or sting,
Its branches reach where heaven’s light does draw.

Yet chaff lies scattered on a windswept plain,
By gusts uptorn, a dry and fleeting husk,
No root, no rest, no shelter from the rain,
It fades to dust beneath the twilight’s dusk.
The righteous bloom where living waters run,
The wicked drift—lost shadows in the sun.