Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/81

The fruits Brown medlars, plums both black and white,
The Apples and chestnuts, peaches bright;
Sorb-apples, barberries, fruit of lote
And many more of lesser note.
And all around this pleasant close
Holly, and laurel, and holm arose1410
With yew and hornbeam, fit I trow
For flitting shaft, and speeding bow;
The cypress sad, and pines that sigh
To soft south breezes mournfully.
Beech, loved of squirrels, olive dark,
And graceful birch with silvery bark;
The shimmering aspen, maple tall,
And lofty ash that topped the wall,
The limber hazel, oak trees hoar,
But wherefore should I tell of more?1420
For wearied^{[errata 1]} would your heart be ere
I numbered half that flourished there.
But this I say, such skilful art
Had planned the trees that each apart
Six fathoms stood, yet like a net
The interlacing branches met,
Through which no scorching rays could pass
To sear the sward, and thus the grass
Kept ever tender, fresh and green,
Beneath their cool and friendly screen.1430

Roebuck and deer strayed up and down
The mead, and troops of squirrels brown
The tree-boles scoured, while conies grey
Shot merrily in jocund play

1. Correction: For wearied should be amended to Fore-wearied: detail