XLIX.

"Sometimes we scoop the squirrel's hollow cell,
And sometimes carve quaint letters on trees' rind,
That haply some lone musing wight may spell
Dainty Aminta,--Gentle Rosalind,--
Or chastest Laura,--sweetly call'd to mind
In sylvan solitudes, ere he lies down;--
And sometimes we enrich gray stems with twined
And vagrant ivy,--or rich moss, whose brown
Burns into gold as the warm sun goes down."


L.

"And, lastly, for mirth's sake and Christmas cheer,
We bear the seedling berries, for increase,
To graft the Druid oaks, from year to year,
Careful that mistletoe may never cease;--
Wherefore, if thou dost prize the shady peace
Of sombre forests, or to see light break
Through sylvan cloisters, and in spring release
Thy spirit amongst leaves from careful ake,
Spare us our lives for the Green Dryad's sake."


LI.