Uploaded on May 5, 2012
“Tis merry in greenwood — thus runs the old lay, —
In the gladsome month of lively May,
When the wild birds’ song on stem and spray
Invites to forest bower;
Then rears the ash his hairy crest,
Then shines the birch in silver vest,
And the beech in glistening leaves is drest,
And dark between shows the oak’s proud breast,
Like a chieftain’s frowning tower;
Though a thousand branches join their screen,
Yet the broken sunbeams glance between,
And tip the leaves with lighter green,
With brighter tints the flowers;
Dull is the heart that loves not then
The deep recess of the wildwood glen,
Where roe and red-deer find sheltering den,
When the sun is in his power.
—Walter Scott
Favorite Poems Old and New
05.05.2024: Someone on Flickr commented that Walter Scott, next to St. John of the Cross, is the best poet that ever lived. Why does everything need to be a competition? If you love something, that should be enough.