572 



llhtstyatcd Canadian h'uvcstry Magazine, December. ic;2o 





A GREAT BEECH TREE 



Mary Prescott Parsons 



(The Outlook, October 27, 1920.) 



It 'Spreads a circle of cool shade around, 

 And spatters bits of sunlight on the grass. 

 Some people, walking softly as they pass, 

 Will hear, high up among its leaves, the sound 

 Of little, summer winds ; — and some have found 

 It is a tree to look through at the stars — 

 And thought how light its fretted patterns are 

 Against the moon, above a snowy ground. 



In times of special wonder, when soft snow 



Bends down its branches, or ice storms make bright 



Each glistening branch and twig, or in the glow 



Of sudden lightning-flashes in the night, 



Almost it seems a poet among trees. 



Interpreting these ancient mysteries. 



