The Ash

Burn ash-wood green,
’Tis a fire for a queen:
Burn ash-wood sear,
’Twill make a man swear.

Ash, when green, makes good fire-wood, and, contrary perhaps to all other sorts of wood, is bad for that purpose when sear, or dry, withered. The old Anglo-Saxon term sear is well illustrated by this homely proverb. The reader will remember Macbeth:

I have lived long enough:
My way of life is fallen into the sear and yellow leaf.