“. . . where the land was highest, a great pine-tree stood, the last of its generation. Whether it was left for a boundary mark, or for what reason, no one could say; the woodchoppers who had felled its mates were dead and gone long ago, and a whole forest of sturdy trees, pines and oaks and maples, had grown again.”

The great pine tree that stands above all the others symbolizes the lasting power of nature. Loggers left the giant tree behind when they cut down trees for reasons no one can remember. The loggers have all died, new trees have grown in place of the old ones, and the giant pine tree has been there to see it all, and it will likely be around for much longer than most of the humanity.

“The old pine must have loved his new depen­dent. More than all the hawks, and bats, and moths, and even the sweet voiced thrushes, was the brave, beating heart of the solitary gray-eyed child. And the tree stood still and frowned away the winds that June morning while the dawn grew bright in the east.”

Throughout the story, aspects of nature are personified. The narrator likens the behavior of plants and animals to that of people, and seems to imbibe each aspect with likes, dislikes, and desires. When Sylvia climbs the tree, the narrator implies that the tree is ecstatic to have the young girl on its boughs and even helps her along by intentionally blocking the wind from her.

“How low they looked in the air from that height when one had only seen them before far up, and dark against the blue sky. Their gray feathers were as soft as moths; they seemed only a little way from the tree, and Sylvia felt as if she too could go flying away among the clouds”

When Sylvia sees two hawks flying across the sky from her incredible height in the tree, she marvels at how different the familiar area looks when she changes her perspective, and this observation has a double meaning. The birds themselves look completely different and Sylvia’s feelings about what she should tell the hunter are also changing. By seeing something familiar from a new viewpoint, Sylvia can learn new things about it, much like how the new experience with the heron changes her feelings about the hunter.