70 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



And how they clustering joined the deer to screen, 



Or curved in ranks, or solitary stood ; 

 Methiuks the prospect should inspire a mood, 



To contemplate and worship Him, whose mind 

 Stirs in the still and night-like solitude, 



Or breathes in whispers on the gentle wind, 

 Though vast cathedral groves and leaves a calm behind. 



Artists divide European trees into four distinct classes : 

 the round-topped, as the oak and elm, the chestnut, willow, 

 ash, and beech ; the spiry-topped, which includes different 

 species of the fir tribe ; the shaggy-topped, comprehending 

 those of the pine ; and the slender-formed, as the Lombardy 

 poplar and the cypress. 



I stand foremost among these, foremost both in dignity 

 and grandeur ; pre-eminent, like the lion among animals, 

 or as the eagle among birds. Beauty united with strength 

 is everywhere developed : my leaves, elegant in their outline, 

 are strongly ribbed, and firmly attached to the branches, 

 which, although individually slender and excursive, are bold 

 and determined in their aggregate; while the abrupt and 



