146 TREES IN NATURE, MYTH & ART 



giving us only glimpses of it here and there ! 

 A treeless landscape is like a straight road. 

 It has no surprises, no mystery. I have 

 already noticed the great difference that is 

 made in a wooded landscape by the absence 

 of the leaves in winter. Tennyson, as we 

 have seen, makes the surroundings of Mariana 

 more dreary by saying that only one poplar 

 marks '*the level waste, the rounding gray"; 

 and Hamerton notes that, without exception, 

 the poets of all ages associate trees with agree- 

 able scenery. 



To all the varied beauty and interest of 

 summer, with its wealth of life in animal, bird, 

 insect and flower — such a wealth as Richard 

 Jefferies follows into minute detail with such 

 sustained delight and delight fulness — the trees 

 serve as a background. They are the scenery 

 amid which nature's great play is performed. 

 Their size, and their breadth of sober colour, 

 contrast admirably with the slightness and 

 varied splendour of the plants and shrubs we 

 value chiefly for their flowers. Neither field 

 nor garden is at its best without a setting of 

 trees. 



We have made a somewhat long halt in our 



