"The Tree" (Note Performer mockup) by Trevor McIntosh published on 2021-02-03T00:53:26Z Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (née Kingsmill April 1661 - August 5th, 1720) was an English poet and courtier who is widely regarded as one of the most integral female poets of the Restoration Era. Her 1701 work "The Tree" is a pastoral poem that praises the beauty of a particularly old and long standing tree, treating this piece of nature as an almost independent agent willing to be a complimentary helper to all the people around it, even in death. I added a flute to this particular song setting in order to represent the lauding bird song and the reed song of the shepherd. The text: Fair tree! for thy delightful shade 'Tis just that some return be made; To thy cool shadows, and to thee. When thou to birds doest shelter give, Thou music doest from them receive; If travellers beneath thee stay Till storms have worn themselves away, That time in praising thee they spend And thy protecting pow'r commend. The shepherd here, from scorching freed, Tunes to thy dancing leaves his reed; Whilst his lov'd nymph, in thanks, bestows Here flow'ry chaplets on thy boughs. Shall I then only silent be, And no return be made by me? No; let this wish upon thee wait, And still to flourish be thy fate. To future ages may'st thou stand Untouch'd by the rash workman's hand, Till that large stock of sap is spent, Which gives thy summer's ornament; Till the fierce winds, that vainly strive To shock thy greatness whilst alive, Shall on thy lifeless hour attend, Prevent the axe, and grace thy end; Their scatter'd strength together call And to the clouds proclaim thy fall; Who then their ev'ning dews may spare When thou no longer art their care, But shalt, like ancient heroes, burn, And some bright hearth be made thy urn. -Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, 1701 Genre Classical