96 
RURAL POESY—THE YALES OF WEVER. 
poesy on this occasion; and indeed we should show ourselves unworthy of the title assumed by the 
Garden Companion were we to exhibit a total want of poetic taste, for, however good a gardener, he 
makes hut a poor companion who is insensible to the influences of poetry. 
The beauty of Mr. Gisborne’s depictions can, of course, only be fully appreciated by those inti¬ 
mately acquainted with the localities. However, it would appear that in the most minute details, his 
descriptions accord with the individual appearances of Nature in the localities described. Our author 
had apparently a most enthusiastic passion for trees, and he pourtrays “ the huge Oak,” and its asso¬ 
ciated objects, just in the way that a naturalist would do, apprising the reader in a foot-note that 
many of the cliffs in the dales appear rifted by the Oaks which have forcibly inserted their roots and 
trunks between them; and some of the trees seem to support the 'disjointed strata of stone with their 
elbowy roots and excrescences :— 
“ First the huge Oak, with dusky charms, 
The suns meridian rage disarms ; 
Proud o’er the beetling crag he bends, 
With bold contortions heaven ascends; 
His delving roots abrupt recoil, 
Or struggle through the flinty soil; 
Chill twilight shrouds his trunk below, 
And glory slumbers on his brow.” 
Canto I., 99—106. 
* * * * 
“Yon Oak, whose tottering trunk displays 
The tarnished pride of other days, 
Still wreathes his shatter’d head with green, 
With charm of contrast aids the scene. 
Oft have I linger’d to survey 
That trunk, with age enamell’d grey; 
O’er his rent hark pale Lichen bends, 
And Moss her folds of velvet blends, 
Where insect nations range unseen, 
And mine the arborescent screen; 
W r eave with nice skill the spider fold, 
And cradle embryo young from cold. 
With what fell art the spider spreads 
TTis glistening snare, mechanic threads ; 
Redundant meshes bright unfurls, 
And round each bud ingenious whirls. 
Ye insect armies, who delight 
To skim the realms of breezy night, 
Or twinkling through the noontide glare, 
W r ith busy murmurs fill the air; 
If floating on the zephyr’s breath, 
Ye rush within these webs of death, 
From his dread ambush darts the foe, 
Enraptur’d with the cries of woe, 
Swift glides along his tremulous toil, 
And riots o’er his struggling spoil.” 
Canto I., 233—57. 
Again the Oak is noticed in connection with Honsseau. In a field at a small distance from North- 
wood stands a cluster of Oaks, commonly called the Tiventy Oaks, which form a circle, disclosing 
between their trunks a beautiful prospect. To this silent retreat Rousseau used frequently to retire, 
during his residence at Wootton, and some of the stones may still he seen which formed his seat. 
“ Lo! where those Oaks encircling meet, 
There Genius formed his rural seat. 
Oft in calm solitude the sage 
Composed his fascinating page,* 
Or bending on the turf survey’d 
With nice regard each flower and blade ; 
Or mark’d gay nature’s liberal smile, 
Admir’d Britannia’s temperate isle; 
Yet thought on Gallia’s lovelier vales, 
Her brighter founts, her softer gales ; 
Thought on her chains with Freedom’s sigh, 
And the patriot kindled in his eye.” 
Canto II., 79—90. 
We had marked other passages for quotation, some of which might have better shown the 
author’s power, but we have given enough to show the style of the poem. We cannot conclude, how¬ 
ever, without observing, that the author deeply felt the manifestation of the power of the Supreme 
Being in all the works of nature, and aptly quotes a sublime passage from the writings of Dr. Blair:— 
“ In the midst of your solitary musings, lift your eyes, and behold all Nature full of God. Look up to 
the firmament and admire his glory. Look round the earth, and observe his presence eveiywhere dis¬ 
played. If the gay landscape or the fruitful field present themselves to your eye, behold him smiling 
upon his works. If the mountain raise its lofty head, or the expanse of waters roll its tide before you, 
contemplate in those great and solemn objects his power and majesty. Nature, in all its diversities, is 
a varied manifestation of the Deity. If you were to take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the 
uttermost parts of the sea, even there you would find him. For in him you live and move. He fills 
and animates all space. In the barren wilderness as in the peopled region, you can trace his footsteps, 
and in the deepest solitude you may hear a voice which testifies of him.”—I. 
* Letters on Botany. By J. J. Rousseau. 
