108 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



Those who visit the places of my growth, rarely find 

 either ferns or grass beneath my shade; but instead of 

 these, soft moss, with here and there the ladies' slipper- 

 wort, and that fragrant parasitic plant, the birdVnest 

 twayblade, which takes root wherever a wandering sun- 

 beam can make its way. And far as the eye can reach 

 often extend tall columns, such as have braved the storms 

 of ages, covered with grey lichens or tufts of moss, in 

 which the dormouse loves to nestle ; such, on the contrary, 

 as have sprung up long since those patriarchal trees first 

 rose from out the earth, beautifully harmonize, in their 

 smooth and silvery bark, with the splendour and delicacy 

 of their foliage. 



No other bark equally allures the young enthusiast to 

 carve thereon the name of his beloved. A propitious 

 emblem, too, it seems, for he sings while thus employed 



" As the letters of our names increase 

 So may our love." 



Enthusiasts in all ages confided their thoughts to trees, 



