TRF.ES. 
1o7 
“ The builder oak, and also the hard)' ash, 
The pillar elm—coffin for the dead, 
The box pipe-tree,* helm (ilex) for whips’ lash, 
The sailing fir,f the cypress, used in mourning for the dead. 
The shooter yew, the aspen for smooth arrows, 
The olive of peace, and also the drunken vine, 
The victor palm, the laurel to divine.” 
In the first book, aud first canto of Spencer’s Faery Queene, the 
following charming lines occur. A “guille Knight, and lovelie la- 
die, are riding through a grove.” The reader will see how closely 
Spencer has followed his great predecessor, and how little his length¬ 
ened expletives add to the concise language of “Dan Chaucer.” 
“ And forth they passe, with pleasure forward led, 
Joying to heare the birdes sweete harmony 
Which therein shrouded from the tempest dred, 
Seemed in their song to scorne the cruel sky. 
Much can they praise the trees, so straight and by 
The sayling pine, the cedar proud and tall, 
The vine prop elm, the poplar never dry, 
The builder oake, sole King of forests all, 
The aspine good for staves, the cypresse funeral!. 
The laurell mede of mightie conquerours, 
And poets sage, the firre that weepeth still, 
The willow, worne of forlorne paramours, 
The eugh obedient to the bender’s will, 
Birch for shaftes, the sallow for the mill, 
The mirrpe sweete bleeding in the bitter wound, 
The warlike beech, the ashe for nothing ill, 
The fruitfull olive and the platane round, 
The carver holme, the maple seldom inward sound.” 
The above quotations I have selected, rather for their appropriate¬ 
ness to your publication, than with a view to their poetical beauty, 
which in fact is only apparent in the terseness of the language, and 
faithfulness to the characteristics of the several trees. 
It is pleasant, however, to compare their uses, in by-gone days, 
with those to which we still apply them. 
How comprehensive is the term “ builder oak,” used by both our 
poets “ sailing pine,” then, as now, destined to urge our navies 
through the “breasting surge.” 
* Pipes were formerly, and Flutes at present are made of this wood. 
•j* Masts. 
