GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES 



species, and that the connection of the city of 

 the captivity and the tears of the exiles with 

 the long, drooping branches of the noble tree 

 which has thus been sorrowfully named was a 

 purely sentimental one. Indeed, the weeping 

 willow is also called Napoleon's willow, because 

 the great Corsican found much pleasure in a 

 superb willow of the same species which stood 

 on the lonely prison isle of St. Helena, and 

 from twigs of which many trees in the United 

 States have been grown. 



The willow family presents great contrasts, 

 both physical and sentimental. It is a symbol 

 both of grief and of grace. The former char- 

 acterization is undoubtedly because of the allu- 

 sion of the one hundred and thirty-seventh 

 Psalm, as quoted above, thoughtlessly extended 

 through the centuries ; and the latter, as when 

 a beautiful and slender woman is said to be of 

 "willowy" form, obviously because of the real 

 grace of the long, swinging wands of the same 

 tree. I might hint that a better reason for 

 making the willow symbolize grief is because 

 charcoal made from its twigs and branches is 

 an important and almost essential ingredient of 



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