The Forest Hymn

Father, Thy handHath reared these venerable columns; ThouDidst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look downUpon the naked earth, and forthwith roseAll these fair ranks of trees. They, in Thy sun,Budded and shook their green leaves in Thy breeze,And shot toward heaven. The century-living crowWhose birth was in their tops, grew old and diedAmong their branches, till, at last, they stood,As they now stand, massy and tall and dark.Fit shrine for humble worshiper to holdCommunion with his Maker. These dim vaults.These winding aisles, of human pomp or prideReport not. No fantastic carvings showThe boast of our vain race to change the formOf Thy fair works. But Thou art here—Thou fill’stThe solitude. Thou art in the soft windsThat run along the summit of these treesIn music; Thou art in the cooler breathThat from the inmost darkness of the placeComes, scarcely felt; the barky trunks, the ground,The fresh, moist ground, are all instinct with Thee.

Here is continual worship. Nature, here,In the tranquillity that Thou dost love,Enjoys Thy presence. Noiselessly around,From perch to perch, the solitary birdPasses; and yon clear spring, that ’midst its herbs,Wells softly forth and, wondering, steeps the rootsOf half the mighty forest, tells no taleOf all the good it does. Thou hast not leftThyself without a witness, in these shadesOf Thy perfections. Grandeur, strength, and graceAre here to speak of Thee. This mighty oak—By whose immovable stem I stand and seemAlmost annihilated—not a princeIn all that proud old world beyond the deep,E’er wore his crown as loftily as heWears the green coronal of leaves with whichThy hand has graced him. Nestled at his rootIs beauty such as blooms not in the glareOf the broad sun. That delicate forest flower.With scented breath and look so like a smile,Seems, as it issues from the shapeless mold,An emanation of the indwelling Life,A visible token of the upholding Love,That are the soul of this wide universe.*********Be it ours to meditateIn these calm shades, Thy milder majesty.And to the beautiful order of Thy worksLearn to conform the order of our lives.