DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 173 



of the forest, entitled the "Beech Tree's Petition," that 

 we gladly quote it, hoping it may perchance stay the 

 hand of some soi-disant improver, who would despoil our 

 native woods of their proudest glories : 



" Oh, leave this barren spot to me ! 

 Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree! 

 Though bush or floweret never grow 

 My dark, unwarming shade below ; 

 Nor summer bud perfume the dew 

 Of rosy blush or yellow hue ! 

 Nor fruits of autumn, blossom-bom, 

 My green and glossy leaves adorn ; 

 Nor murmuring tribes from me derive 

 Th' ambrosial amber of the hive ; 

 Yet leave this barren spot to me — 

 Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree.' 



Thrice twenty summers I have seen 

 The sky grow bright, the forest green j 

 And many a wintry wind have stood 

 In bloomless, fruitless solitude. 

 Since childhood in my pleasant bower 

 First spent its sweet and sportive hour ; 

 Since youthful lovers in my shade 

 Their vows of truth and rapture made ; 

 And on my trunk's surviving frame 

 CaiTed many a long-forgotten name. 

 Oh ! by the sighs of gentle sound 

 First breathed upon this sacred ground. 

 By all that Love has whispered here. 

 Or beauty heard with ravished ear ; 

 As Love's own altar, honor mo — 

 Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree i " 



The beech is quite handsome and graceful wher, young, 

 and when large it forms one of the heaviest and grandest 

 of beautiful park trees. From this massy quality, how- 

 ever, it is excellently adapted to mingle with other treea 

 when a thick anc impenetrable mass of foliage is desired * 



