While the other trees of the forest were tossing hither
and thither, bent and broken by the blast, you stood in calm poise and
dignity, nodding and swaying towards me as if to show me how to
withstand adversity. And I have watched your pendulous blossoms daily
grow more beautiful among the miracles of early May when the sunshine
of the flower-spangled days made you a vision of tender green and
gold. I have seen your tiny leaves creep out of their protecting
bud-scales in the springtime, their upper surfaces touched with a pink
more lovely than that on the cheek of a child, while below they were
clothed with a silvery softness more delicately fair than the coverlid
in the cradle of a king. I have watched them develop into full-grown
leaves with lobes as rounded and finely formed as the tips of ladies'
fingers and I have noted how well the mass of your foliage has
protected your feathered friends and their naked nestlings from the
peltings of the hail, the drenchings of the rain and the scorching of
the summer sun. I have gloried in the grateful shade you gave alike to
happy children in their play and to tired parents weary and worn with
the work and the worry of the world; and it was then, old tree, that
you taught me to be sympathetic and hospitable.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49