Uncounted creatures gather under mighty limbs,
which spread out wide and high; the birds of countless type
are busy trimming up their nests, and warble hymns
of infinite variety and every stripe;
and creeping things will gather at the trunk and roots
to feast upon the acorns falling down like rain,
and mushrooms rising from the loam, and sprouting shoots
and all the endless riches of this vast domain.
The sapling mocks the oak for being old and wise,
but cannot give, can only draw and eat and drain;
on age and depth and roots each living thing relies,
and to all living things the oak presents the prize.
