OCTOBER. 299 



the silver-stemmed and pensile-branched birch, the 

 tall smooth beech, the wide spreading oak and chest- 

 nut, each developes its own florid hue of orange, red, 

 brown, or yellow, which, mingling with the green 

 of unchanged trees, or the darkness of the pine, pre- 

 sents a tout ensemble rich, glowing, and splendid. 

 Yet, fine as are our woods at this season, far are they 

 exceeded by the vast forests of America ; the great 

 variety of trees, and the greater effect of climate, 

 conspiring to render them in decay gorgeous and 

 beautiful beyond description. 



The woods ! oh solemn are the boundless woods 

 Of the great Western World in their decline. 



HEMANS. 



And solemn too are our own. The dark and glossy 

 acorns lie scattered in profusion on the ground, the 

 richly coloured and veined horse-chestnuts glow in 

 the midst of their rugged and spiny shells, which 

 have burst open by their fall among the deep and 

 well-defined circle of " broad palmy leaves," that 

 seem to have been shed at once. The host of birds 

 enjoy a plentiful feast of beech-nuts in the tree-tops ; 

 and the squirrels beneath them, ruddy as the fallen 

 leaves amongst which they rustle, and full of life 

 and archness, are a beautiful sight. 



THE GREENWOOD. 



The greenwood ! the greenwood ! what bosom but allows 

 The gladness of the charm that dwells in thy pleasant whisper- 

 ing boughs ! 



