3 •> 
To which his rival replies — 
“ Two cups for rae that skilful artist made : 
Their handles with acanthus are array'd ; 
Orpheus is in the midst* whose magic song 
Leads in tumultuous dance the lofty groves along. 
But my pledged heifer if aright you prize, 
The cups so much extoll’d you will despise.” 
The bark of the beech shares the classical renown of 
its wood. From time immemorial it has been the sylvan 
tablet of the lover. Shakspeare thus alludes to the 
practice, though he does not name the tree: — “A man 
haunts our forest that abuses our young trees with 
carving Bosalind upon their bark.” 
This tender usage has been made a plea, by the poet, 
for exemption from the woodman’s stroke. The plea is 
eloquently urged, and we only wish it may be the means 
of sparing many a stately beech from an untimely fall: — 
“ Since youthful lovers in my shade 
Their vows of truth and rapture made, 
And on my trunk's surviving frame 
Carved many a long-forgotten name ; 
Oh ! by the sighs of gentle sound, 
First breathed upon this sacred ground ; 
By all that love has whisper'd there, 
Or beauty heard with ravish’d ear; 
As love's own altar, honour me. 
Spare, woodman, spare the beechcn-trec!" 
