1958 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUAr. PART II f. 



80 ft. to 90 ft. high, with clear trunks of I'roni 'M) it. to 40 ft. ; and from 8 ft. 

 to 1 + ft. in circumference at 4 ft. from the ground. We saw some of these 

 magnificent trees in 1831, and can bear testimou}- to tlie amplitude of their 

 dimensions, and to their being apparently in good health ; though, we believe, 

 some of those alluded to by Mitchell have been cut down since his time. 



Poetirnl and Icgendnrij AUimona. The poetical allusions to the beech, 

 among the Latin poets, are very numerous : Virgil frequently mentions it, 

 several instances of which have been quoted in p. 1956. ; but, among the most 

 celebrated, are the well-known lines, — 



" Tityrc, tu, palulip rccubans sub tpgmine fagi, 

 Sylvcstrcm tcnui iiiiisam meditaris avena.". 



" Beneath the shade whirh beechen boughs diffuse. 

 You, Tityrus, entertain your sylvan Muse." Drvden's Virgil. 



And the following : — 



" Or shall I rather the sad verse repeat 



Which on the beech's bark I lately writ ?" Drypen's Virgil. 



In the third Eclogue, Virgil makes his shepherds boast of their beechen bowls. 



Tibullus says, — 



" No wars did men molest, 



When only beechen bowls were in request." 



In more modern times, we may quote the well-known lines from Tasso's 



Geniso/nnvie Lihernta : — 



" Nella scorza de' faggi e dcgli allori 

 Segno r amato nome in mille guise." 



" On the smooth beechen rind the pensive dame 

 Carves in a thousand forms her Tancred's name.'' HooLE's Tnsso. 



Garcilasso, the Spanish poet, has several allusions to this tree : — 



" Under the branches of the beech we flung 

 Our limbs at ease, and our bent bows unstrung. 

 Thus idly lying, we inspired with zest 

 The sweet fresh spirit breathing from the west." Wiffen's Gnreilasw. 



" The sun, from rosy billows risen, had ray'd 



With gold the mountain tops, when at the foot 

 Of a tall beech romantic, whose green shade 



Fell on a brook, that, sweet-voiced as a lute. 

 Through lively pastures wound its sparkling way, 

 Sad on the daisied turf Salicio lay." Ihitl. 



" Not a beech but bears some cipher, 

 Tender word, or amorous text : 

 If one vale sounds Angelina, 

 Angelina sounds the next." Dov Lns de Goxgor*. 



Among the English poets, we may find numerous allusions to, and descrip- 

 tions of, the beech ; and of these we shall give a few. Milton says, — 



" In beechen goblets let their bev'rage shine, 

 Cool from the crystal spring their sober wine." 



Beaumont and Fletcher, in the Faithful Shepherdess^ allude to Pan, — 



" That sleeping lies in a deep glade, 

 Under a broad beech's shade." 



Leigh Hunt, in a translation from Theocritus, says,- 



" I ran to meet you, as the traveller 



Ciets from the sun under a shady beech.' 



The most generally quoted lines in English, on tSje beech tree, are, however, 

 tho.se of dray, ('ampbcll,and Wordsworth, all«« which we shall give below, 

 (iray says, — 



" There at the foot of yonder nodding beech. 



That wreathes its old fantastic n^its .so high. 

 His listless length at noontide he would stretch. 



And pore u|)on the brook that bubbled by." Orav. 



Campbell's lines are entitled " The Beech Tree's Petition :" — 



