Spreading himself like a green bay-tree. — Trees

"Know ye the willow-tree, Whose grey leaves quiver, Whispering gloomily To yon pale river? Lady, at even-tide Wander not near it: They say its branches hide A sad, lost spirit!"

"A pillard shade High over-archd, and echoing walks between."

"Trees perspire profusely, condense largely, and check evaporation so much, that woods are always moist: no wonder therefore that they contribute much to pools and streams. That trees are great promoters of lakes and rivers appears from a well known fact in North-America; for, since the woods and forests have been grubbed and cleared, all bodies of water have much diminished; so that some streams, that were very considerable a century ago, will not now drive a common mill."

"I think that I shall never scan A tree as lovely as a man. * * * * A tree depicts divinest plan, But God himself lives in a man."

"At that awful hour of the Passion, when the Saviour of the world felt deserted in His agony, when— "The sympathizing sun his light withdrew, And wonderd how the stars their dying Lord could view"— when earth, shaking with horror, rung the passing bell for Deity, and universal nature groaned, then from the loftiest tree to the lowliest flower all felt a sudden thrill, and trembling, bowed their heads, all save the proud and obdurate aspen, which said, "Why should we weep and tremble? we trees, and plants, and flowers are pure and never sinned!" Ere it ceased to speak, an involuntary trembling seized its very leaf, and the word went forth that it should never rest, but tremble on until the day of judgment."

"Earlier this year in , I got to visit the oldest tree on the planet. It’s a giant , southern cousin to California’s s, that was recently dated at 5400 years old. The Chilean National Park Service is taking good care of this elder, only allowing a handful of visitors each week (you make your appointment with the tree online), and it’s quite a hike to get there. When I reached its feet, I burst into tears. No human thoughts are appropriate to existence on that scale. I could only picture fires and earthquakes and and empires rising and collapsing, so much noise, while that tree has stood quietly in its . I’m still vibrating from my communion with this giant life. Survival on that order can help you believe in a future."