| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1308. Yosemite |
| | | From “The Washington Sequoia” |
| | | By Milicent Washburn Shinn |
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| SOUL of a tree ungrown, new life out of God’s life proceeding, | |
| Folded close in the seed, waking—O wonder of wonders— | |
| Waking with power as a spirit to clothe thee in leaves and in branches, | |
| What, in thine age-long future, is the word thou art set here to say? | |
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| Far in the great Sierra dwell the mighty groups of thy kindred; | 5 |
| Aisles of the sounding pines; and colonnades dusky and fragrant, | |
| Pillared with ridgy shafts of tall and wonderful cedar, | |
| Lead to their presence; and round them forever the mountains stand. | |
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| Deep in that inner temple listens the fortunate pilgrim, | |
| Low where the red lilies tremble he lies while the still hours pass by him, | 10 |
| Baring his brows to the silence, the dear and intimate greatness, | |
| The touch of the friendly air, like a quiet and infinite hand. | |
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| Far, far up from the earth, in the lower spaces of heaven, | |
| Shadowy green on the blue, rests the moving lace of the branches, | |
| Holding the faint winds captive, dropping but lightest of murmurs, | 15 |
| Spirits of far-away sound, to the windless reaches below. | |
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| Deep in that inner temple listens the fortunate pilgrim; | |
| Infinite things they say to him, the mighty groups of thy kindred,— | |
| Life beyond life, and soul within soul, and God around all as an ocean,— | |
| Whispers his heart dimly guesses, secrets he never may know. | 20 |
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