My Tree

Talk of the Heart

My shady green tree,
my companion at every dawn;
to her, with my coffee, I repair;
before her dewy splendor
I glorify the name of God,
He of everlasting majesty!

XXXX

My lofty, lovely tree —
what bliss is hers!
With what serenity she lies down beside the darkness,
and what gladness shakes her when she wakes!
Forever she defies the ages;
her branches strike the sky,
her roots embrace the rocks;
she glories in the fall of her tresses;
no sinful gray comes near her;
she sways, part upon part,
with the coquetry of fresh, abiding youth!

XXXX

In summer her breast is a stage for the sparrows:
she sings with them, claps for them, and makes merry —
...what warm love there is among them!
And oh, her might in winter!
She stands fast in the face of the storm,
returns its violent slaps,
shares in nature's rebellion,
ruffles her hair in fury
and strikes her cheek in spite,
like a lover set aflame by desertion!

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I love her... my companion the tree;
I love her in her weakness and in her violence,
I love her in her right guidance and in her straying.
She is a living symbol... of an impossible thing:
of a fresh, everlasting youth
...a possession
that is beyond my power!