Salute to the Trees + 

Many a tree is found in the wood + 

And every tree for its use is good: + 

Some for the strength of the gnarled root, + 

Some for the sweetness of flower or fruit; + 

Some for shelter against the storm, + 

And some to keep the hearth-stone warm; + 

Some for the roof, and some for the beam, + 

And some for a boat to breast the stream;⁠— + 

In the wealth of the wood since the world began + 

The trees have offered their gifts to man. + 

But the glory of trees is more than their gifts: + 

’Tis a beautiful wonder of life that lifts, + 

From a wrinkled seed in an earth-bound clod, + 

A column, an arch in the temple of God, + 

A pillar of power, a dome of delight, + 

A shrine of song, and a joy of sight! + 

Their roots are the nurses of rivers in birth; + 

Their leaves are alive with the breath of the earth; + 

They shelter the dwellings of man; and they bend + 

O’er his grave with the look of a loving friend. + 

I have camped in the whispering forest of pines, + 

I have slept in the shadow of olives and vines; + 

In the knees of an oak, at the foot of a palm + 

I have found good rest and slumber’s balm. + 

And now, when the morning gilds the boughs + 

Of the vaulted elm at the door of my house, + 

I open the window and make salute: + 

“God bless thy branches and feed thy root! + 

Thou hast lived before, live after me, + 

Thou ancient, friendly, faithful tree.” + 