326 SOUNDS FROM TREES. 



bends over the stream, its sounds are mournful, like those 

 of a harp when swept by the wind. According to Os- 

 sian, it is the oak that blends its music with the sounds 

 of lamentation, and sings the dirges of departed heroes. 

 And the bard declares that he will cease to mourn for 

 them only when the music of the oak shall no longer be 

 heard in the groves of echoing Cona. 



When a strong w T ind prevails, the leaves of all trees 

 are put in motion, and their sounds cannot be distin- 

 guished ; and during a storm the roar of winds among 

 their branches is almost deafening. This is the grand cho- 

 rus of the elements ; but the sounds that affect us most 

 agreeably are such as come from light movements of the 

 wind and harmonize with the warbling and chirping of 

 birds. It is the aspen that gives out those lulling melo- 

 dies that spring from the gentle gales of summer. When 

 we are sitting at an open window on a still evening, or 

 sauntering in a wood, or musing in the shade of a quiet 

 nook, when the wind is so calm that the hum of the in- 

 visible insect-swarms, hovering in the air, is plainly audi- 

 ble, then is the trembling motion of the aspen leaves 

 peculiarly significant of the serenity of the elements. 

 They produce a tranquillizing sound, associated with rest 

 in the languor of noonday, or with watching in the still 

 hours of a summer night. 



When the quiet of the atmosphere begins to yield to 

 the movements of a rising tempest, the aspen, by its ex- 

 cessive agitation, gives prophetic warning of its approach. 

 Often, in a sultry evening, the first notice I have received 

 of a rising thunder-storm came from the increased trepida- 

 tion of an aspen that stood before my window. So deli- 

 cate and sensitive is the foliage of this tree that it is ex- 

 cited to action by atmospheric changes before that of any 

 other tree is moved. Thus, while the rustling of the aspen 

 leaf, when gentle, indicates the tranquillity of summer 



