He starts off the poem by basically saying that if we had another advantage point of seeing things, would we be able to recognize our deeds, would we be able to understand. And what about the future he says. If man can look into the future would he like what he sees? Could we even understand it? The poem imagines the Betula Nigra watching over us. At the start of the poem he uses the Pantheon and an Obelisk to give his reader an idea of the grandeur of his birch tree. In Essay on Progress he uses the same method by displaying the scale of history (past, present, and future). What progress has man achieved? Where will his progress take us? He continues with examples, like Ancient Egypt, and science. It goes further to expose the makers of history: Scientists, Kings, Emperors, Warriors. But the message remains: human progress and our place in it. This was Fenerty's last pamphlet published poem (other would appear in local newspapers - like Sir Provo Wallis and The Prince's Lodge).

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