What said the wood in the fire

To the little boy that night,

The little boy of the golden hair,

As he rocked himself in his little arm-chair,

When the blaze was burning bright?

The wood said: "See

What they've done to me!

I stood in the forest, a beautiful tree!

And waved my branches from east to west;

And many a sweet bird built its nest

In my leaves of green,

That loved to lean

In springtime over the daisy's breast.

"From the blossomy dells,

Where the violet dwells,

The cattle came with their clanging bells,

And rested under my shadows sweet;

And the winds that went over the clover and wheat,

Told me all that they knew

Of the flowers that grew

In the beautiful meadows that dreamed at my feet!

"And the wild wind's caresses

Oft rumpled my tresses;

But, sometimes, as soft as a mother's lip presses

On the brow of the child of her bosom, it laid

Its lips on my leaves, and I was not afraid,

And I listened and heard

The small heart of each bird,

As it beat in the nests that their mothers had made.

"And in springtime sweet faces,

Of myriad graces,

Came beaming and gleaming from flowery places.

And under my grateful and joy-giving shade,

With cheeks like primroses, the little ones played;

And the sunshine in showers,

Through all the bright hours,

Bound their flowery ringlets with silvery braid.

"And the lightning

Came brightening,

From storm skies, and frightening

The wandering birds that were tossed by the breeze,

And tilted like ships on black, billowy seas;

But they flew to my breast,

And I rocked them to rest,

While the trembling vines clustered and clung to my knees.

"But how soon," said the wood,

"Fades the memory of good!

For the forester came, with his axe gleaming bright,

And I fell like a giant all shorn of his might.

Yet still there must be

Some sweet mission for me,

For have I not warmed you and cheered you to-night?"

So said the wood in the fire

To the little boy that night,

The little boy of the golden hair,

As he rocked himself in his little arm-chair,

When the blaze was burning bright.