152 FAMILIAR TREES 



practically a purely ornamental tree. As Gilpin says, 

 it is " a perfect contrast to the Lombardy Poplar. 

 The light, airy spray of the Poplar rises perpendicu- 

 larly, that of the Weeping Willow is pendent. The 

 shape of the leaf is conformable to the pensile char- 

 acter of the tree, and its spray, which is lighter than 

 that of the Poplar, is more easily put in motion by 

 a breath of air. The Weeping Willow, however, is 

 not adapted to sublime subjects. We wish it not to 

 screen the broken buttresses and Gothic windows of 

 an abbey, or to overshadow the battlements of a 

 ruined castle. These offices it resigns to the Oak, 

 whose dignity can support them. The Weeping 

 Willow seeks a humble scene some romantic foot- 

 path bridge, some quiet grave, which it half 

 conceals, or some glassy pond, over which it hangs 

 its streaming foliage." In the words of Cowper, 

 a poet who would be familiar with the newly in- 

 troduced species 



" the Willows dip 

 Their pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink." 



