MAY FIRST
Reading edition
Arbor Day.
Joseph Addison born 1672.
Arthur, Duke of Wellington, born 1769.
If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
—Joseph Addison.
He who plants a tree, he plants love; Tents of coolness spreading out above Wayfarers, he may not live to see. Gifts that grow are best; Hands that bless are blest; Plant-life does the rest! Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, And his work his own reward shall be. —Lucy Larcom.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. —Psalm 1. 3.
My Creator, give me joyful eyes for joyful nature. May I be alive to the gentle influences of a May day which bring new experiences to all who may receive them: and may I serve thee by unfolding to others the love of truth, the love of good, and the love of beauty. Amen.