154 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



drenched locks, and in autumn drops 

 them like elfin straws to make a winter 

 thatch for all the little colonies in the 

 earth. The pines are cheerful and 

 strong, even from the tiny seedling 

 piercing the moss : — 



" First a little slender line, 

 Like a mermaid's green eyelash, and then 

 anon 



A stem a tower might rest upon, 

 Standing spear-straight in the waist-deep 

 moss, 



Its bony roots clutching around and across, 

 As if they would tear up earth's heart in their 

 grasp 



Ere the storm should uproot them or make 



them unclasp : 

 Its cloudy boughs singing as suiteth the pine." 



Even the juniper that spreads itself in 

 the pasture gives the same pledge to 

 the fields that the witch-hazel gives 

 to the woods. Under the trees on each 



