IN the Garden of Eden, planted by God, <br />There were goodly trees in the springing sod,— <br />Trees of beauty and height and grace, <br />To stand in splendor before His face. <br />Apple and hickory, ash and pear, <br />Oak and beech and the tulip rare, <br />The trembling aspen, the noble pine, <br />The sweeping elm by the river line; <br />Trees for the birds to build and sing, <br />And the lilac tree for a joy in spring; <br />Trees to turn at the frosty call <br />And carpet the ground for their Lord's footfall; <br />Trees for fruitage and fire and shade, <br />Trees for the cunning builder's trade; <br />Wood for the bow, the spear, and the flail, <br />The keel and the mast of the daring sail; <br />He made them of every grain and girth <br />For the use of man in the Garden of Earth. <br />Then lest the soul should not lift her eyes <br />From the gift to the Giver of Paradise, <br />On the crown of a hill, for all to see, <br />God planted a scarlet maple tree.<br /><br />Bliss William Carman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/trees-59/
