Dec 6 UK - Dark day for dark thoughts

Almost pitch dark when I got down to the tree today. But eh outline of the tree looks wonderful against the dark sky.

We had the "Prayer of a tree" yesterday. It's nice - but it's really the prayer of a tree lover. It's a human prayer. The thing that has struck me most as I have worked on this blog is the complete "tree-yness" of trees. They live separate vegetable lives to us and probably are more indifferent to us than rocks and stones. At least, if rocks and stones ignore us, we don't think they are alive. Whereas trees seem almost like people. But they are not. As of trees their "vegetable love doth grow, vaster than empires and more slow." Almost true as the mycillae (is that what I mean - the root fungus anyway) of one would encircle the world and joins trees in some sort of web at least forest wide.

In searching around for a definitive version of the tree prayer last night I came across this. "An apple is the prayer of a tree." It sounds intriguing, but I don't know what it means either, so I just pass it on.

I think most likely the tree prays "send my roots rain." Maybe it prays that its acorns will fall off and give its branches a rest, maybe that the caterpillars will stop itching in the leaves. These are the equivalents of what most humans pray for. And quite right too. People spend a lot of time praying for more complex things too, mostly that that they won't live as ghastly wrecks. Trees seem to attain an amazing beauty however they grow. "What I do is me for that I came." No agonising for trees.

Look at the form of our tree as it rears up into the sky. That's something to wonder at.

Here are the quotes which I have misused tonight:
Vegetable Love comes from Marlowe's poem to his Coy Mistress where he is encouraging his mistress to "make much of time" as we poets say when we want to hurry someone into bed. It has nothing whatever to do with trees.
"Rocks and stones and trees" comes from Wordsworth's poem about the death of his love Lucy. Said by many to be his best.
"Send my roots rain" is from Gerard Manley Hopkins. I now find. It's an agonised poem of complaint about the injustice of God. Just what I say trees don't pray. Though how would I know.
"What I do is me" is Hopkins too. There's a pic of him on the link. Gosh he looked girly in his youth. Maybe nowadays he's be a member of a boys band.

The Marlows is the most fun for a dark winter night but the others are marvellous poems. If you want to see my two pennorth on prayer you can click here. I've just re-read it. Time I followed my own advice!