THE WILLOW. 27 



spray, may be heard from their green shelter on all sum- 

 mer noons. The fresh and peculiar incense of the peat- 

 meadows, with their purple beds of cranberry-vines and 

 wild strawberries, the glistening of still waters, and the 

 sight of little fishes that gambol in their clear depths, are 

 circumstances that accompany the Willow, and magnify 

 our pleasure on beholding it, either in a picture or real 

 landscape. We prize the Willow for its material quali- 

 ties no more than for its poetic relations ; for it is not 

 only the beauty of a tree, but the scenes with which it is 

 allied, and the ideas and images it awakens in the mind, 

 that make up its attractions. 



The very name of this tree brings to mind at once a 

 swarm of images, rural, poetical, and romantic. There is 

 a softness in the sound of Willow that accords with the 

 delicacy of its foliage and the flexibility of its slender 

 branches. The syllables of this word must have been 

 prompted by the mellow tones which are produced by 

 the wind when gliding through its airy spray. Writers 

 of romance have always assigned the Willow to youthful 

 lovers, as affording the most appropriate arbor for their 

 rustic vows, which would seem to acquire a peculiar 

 sacredness when spoken under the shade of the most 

 poetical of all trees. 



The Willow, though tenacious of life, will not prosper 

 in dry places. Its presence is a sure indication of water, 

 either on the surface of the ground or a little beneath 

 it. The grass is green at all times under this tree, 

 and the herds that browse upon its foliage and young 

 branches find beneath them the most grateful pasture. 

 In the New England States it has long been customary 

 to plant Willows by the wayside, wherever the road 

 passes over wet grounds. Some of the most delightful 

 retreats of the pedestrian are found under their shady 

 boughs. When he is panting with heat and thirst, the 



