The oak remained awake through the morning of spring, the noon of summer, and the evening of autumn; its time of rest, its night drew nigh- winter was coming.
Already the storms were singing, "Good-night, good-night." here fell a leaf and there fell a leaf. " We will rock you and lull you. Go to sleep, go to sleep.
We will sing you to sleep and shake you to sleep and it will do your old twigs good; they will crackle with pleasure. Sleep sweetly, sleep sweetly, it is your three- hundred-and-sixty-fifth night.
Correctly speaking, you are but a youngster in the world. Sleep sweetly, the clouds will drop snow upon you, which will be quite a coverlid, warm and sheltering your feet. Sweet sleep to you , and pleasant dreams."
And there stood the oak, stripped of all its leaves, left to rest during the whole long winter, and to dream many dreams of events that had happened in its life, as in the dreams of men.
The Dream Of The Old Oak ~ Hans Anderson
I would highly recommend reading the whole fairytale, such a beautiful and touching story about life, death and passing on... Perfectly timed for Samhain.
The Victorian photo album is available to buy in my shop as part of an Autumn update. Click the photo below to take you straight to my Etsy.
