When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment, and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say, "and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine."

--Mary Oliver, "When I Am Among the Trees"

What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky?
-- Pablo Neruda

Prayer of a Tree
----------------

To The Wayfarer,

Ye who pass by and would raise your hand against me, harken ere you harm me.

I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights,
the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun.

My fruits are refreshing draughts,
quenching your thirst as you journey on.

I am the beam which holds your house,
the board of your table,
the bed on which you lie,
and the timbers of your boat.

I am the handle of your hoe,
the door of your homestead,
the wood of your cradle,
the shell of your coffin.

I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty.

Ye who pass by,
listen to my prayer; harm me not.

--reportedly from the book "Spanish Sunshine" by Elinor Elsner, circa 1925, and was a notice found on a tree in a park in Seville, Spain; posted by Ray on the Boards of the Native Tree Society

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson