“A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself.”

— John Muir , book My First Summer in the Sierra

Terry Gifford, EWDB, pages 243-244
Source: 1860s, My First Summer in the Sierra, 1869

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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John Muir 183

Scottish-born American naturalist and author 1838–1914

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“Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings.”

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“When the trees were enchanted,
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Amir Khusrow (1253–1325) Indian poet, writer, musician and scholar

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“I've been down this road before
I remember every tree
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Sound rising into
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Paul Verlaine La lune blanche

La lune blanche
Luit dans les bois;
De chaque branche
Part une voix
Sous la ramée.
"La lune blanche", line 1, from La Bonne Chanson (1872); Sorrell p. 57

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John Muir 183

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