Ancient Tree Forum


Proverbs ch 23 v 10		'Remove not the ancient landmarks'

John Muir (1838-1914)		'God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.'

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)		'The wet dawn inks Are doing their blue dissolve On their blotter of fog The trees seem a botanical drawing Memories growing, ring on ring, A series of weddings'

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)		"Silently the birds fly through us. Oh, I, who long to grow, I look outside myself, And the tree inside me grows."

"Spirit Tree" S. Edward Palmer		"In towering splendor once I stood A regal monarch of the wood, My branches once reached to the sky See me now but do not cry. The Creator's work has yet to cease I've become a shelter for bird and beast, And when at last I fall to the Earth The life I leave will inspire new birth; A seedling springs forth from the ground Nature's cycle goes round and round."

"The Return of the Native" Thomas Hardy		"The wet young beeches were undergoing amputations, bruises, cripplings, and harsh lacerations, from which the wasting sap would bleed for many a day to come, and which would leave scars visible till the day of their burning. Each stem was wrenched at the root, where it moved like a bone in its socket, and at every onset of the gale convulsive sounds came from the branches, as if pain were felt."

William Shakespeare "The Merry Wives of Windsor"		"Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest, Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight, Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns; And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle, And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain In a most hideous and dreadful manner. You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know The superstitious idle-headed eld Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age, This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

George Pope Morris Journalist and Poel (1802 -1864)		"Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now"

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Philosopher (1712 -1778)		"Should you see me at the point of death, carry me under the shade of an oak, and I promise you I shall recover"

John Muir Naturalist, Explorer, and Writer (1838-1914)		"Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot defend themselves or run away. And few destroyers of trees ever plant any; nor can planting avail much toward restoring our grand aboriginal giants. It took more than three thousand years to make some of the oldest of the Sequoias, trees that are still standing in perfect strength and beauty, waving and singing in the mighty forests of the Sierra."

Hermann Hesse		"Wer mit alten B�umen zu sprechen, ihnen zuzuh�ren wei�, der erf�hrt die Wahrheit." - "He who knows how to speak with and listen to ancient trees shall learn the truth."

Andrew Marvell		"The gods, who mortal beauty chase, Still in a tree did end their race."

Thomas Gray to Horace Walpole in 1737		"...both hill and vale is covered over with the most venerable beeches, and other very reverend vegetables, that like most other ancient people, are always dreaming out their old stories to the wind."

A journalist writing about Epping Forest Hornbeams -		'short, shabby, scrubby undescribably mean and ugly they were, something like warty railway sleepers with a shock head of twigs.'

William Sawrey Gilpin (1762-1843)		"What is more beautiful? than an old tree with a hollow trunk? or with a dead arm, a drooping bough, or a decaying branch?" William Sawrey Gilpin was a famous landscape designer in the period after Brown and Repton, and wrote "Practical Hints for Landscape Gardening" in 1832. Sent in by Keith Alexander.

Andrew White. 1633. Voyage to Maryland (Relatio Itineris in Marilandiam)		"After eight or nine days of generous treatment we set sail on the third of March and, having travelled into Chesapeake Bay, we turned our course to the north, in order to reach the Potomac River. Chesapeake Bay flows gently between the shores; it is ten leagues wide, four, five, six and seven fathoms deep, and teeming with fish, when it is the right time of the year. you will hardly find a more pleasant, evenly flowing river. Nonetheless, it yields to the Potomac River, which we named after St. Gregory. Since we had already reached the desired region, we distributed names according to the circumstances. And in fact we dedicated the promontory, which is located towards the south, to the honor of St. Gregory, the northen one to St. Michael, naming it so in honor of all the angels of Maryland. I have never seen a greater and more delightful river; compared to it the Thames seems a mere rivulet. It is not tainted by swamps, but on both sides wonderful forests of fine trees rise up on solid ground, not made inaccessible by thornhedges and underbrush, but just as if planted spaciously by hand so that one could easily drive a chariot drawn by four horses between the trees".



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