riley] TREE FRIENDS OF JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 299 



He knew his friends in all moods, seasons and places, a study 

 of his descriptive words clearly brings this out ; sudh examples 

 as follow will illustrate a few. 'Bleak pines ;' 'Wind vexed woods ;' 

 'filmy trees;' 'wooded shores;' 'like a strong oak;' 'the poplars 

 shiver;' 'pine trees moan;' 'elm trees heavy shadow;' 'elm leaves 

 dark and dewy;' 'where, at their shades shy aspens look*. There 

 are countless others, even.- page of his poems, with the exception 

 of the Biglow Papers, yield some example. 



Each tree is for him quite distinct, they are quite as separate 



and with as much character as his human friends. The oaks 



are no more just oaks than Smiths are just Smiths. They are 



swamp oaks, red, white or scrub each with definite characteristics 



setting them off from others of their family. 



"The swamp oak with his royal purple on." 



"The red oak, softer grained yields all for lost 

 And with his crumpled foliage stiff and dry. 

 After the first betrayal of the frost, 

 Rebuffs the kiss of the relenting si-: 



The trees most often mentioned are, birch, pine, fir, hemlock, 

 maples, button wood, chestnuts, cedars, lindens, elm, willows, 

 poplars, aspens, apple and sumach; all of them are found com- 

 monly in New England woods. It seems a little strange that no 

 mention is made of the larch tree. Lowell must have known the 

 larch as it is found in New England. His good friend Longfellow 

 uses it in his poems. Maybe Lowell disliked it as Wordsworth 

 did and simply failed to mention it either way out of kindness 

 to the tree family as a whole. 



Many of the trees Lowel has treated with separately as Words- 

 worth did so many of the flowers Lowell has written poems on 

 several separate trees describing their moods, habits and character. 

 These are found under the titles of "The Oak,'' Th Birch," 

 "The Maple," "To a Pine Tree." In other cases he has used a 

 tree to cam- out some analogy such as in his poem "Tree Growth 

 of the Legend" he shows how a legend grows as does a pine tree 

 from a small slender shoot to full grown. 



'So, pine-tree, the legend grew strong-limbed and tall* % 

 Later in the same poem he writes 



'Yes, the pine is the mother of legends;' 

 Another time when asked to write a poem for the iooth anniver- 

 sary of Washington's taking command of the American army at 



