THE FRIENDLY TREES 



I will sing of the bounty of the big trees. 



They are the green tents of the Almight\ , 



He hath set them up for comfort and for shelter. 



Their cords hath he knotted in the earth. 

 He hath driven their stakes securely. 

 Their roots take hold of the rocks like iron. 



He sendeth into their bodies the sap of life, 

 They lift themselves lightly toward the heavens, 

 They rejoice in the broadening of their branches. 



Their leaves drink in the sunlight and the air, 

 They talk softly together when the breeze bioweth. 

 Their shadow in the noon-day is full of coolness. 



The tall palm trees of the plain are rich in fruit, 



While the fruit ripeneth the flower unfoldeth. 



The beaut\- of their crown is renewed on high for ever. 



The cedars of Lebanon are fed by the snow. 

 Afar on the mountain they grow like giants, 

 In their layers of shade a thousand years are sighing. 



How fair are the trees that befriend the home of man. 



The oak, and the terebinth, and the sycamore. 



The broad-leaved fig tree and the delicate silver\- olive. 



In them the Lord is loving to his little birds. 

 The linnets and the finches and the nightingales. 

 They people his pavilions with nests and with music. 



The cattle also are very glad of a great tree. 



They chew the cud beneath it while the sun is burning. 



And there the panting sheep lie down around their shepherd. 



He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, 

 He provideth a kindness for many generations. 

 And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him. 



Lord, when my spirit shall return to thee, 

 At the foot of a friendly tree let my body be buried, 

 That this dust maj' rise and rejoice among the branches. 

 Henry Fan Dyke 



' From Poems of Henry Van Dyke 

 Copyright 1911 by Charles Scribncr's Sons 



