I found myself at once in the twilight of close-ranked trees. There was a grass-grown track descending the forest aisle, between hoar and knotty shafts and under branched arches. I followed it, expecting soon to reach the dwelling; but it stretched on and on, it wound far and farther: no sign of habitation or grounds was visible. I though I had taken a wrong direction and lost my way. The darkness of natural as well as sylvan dusk gathered over me. I looked round in search of another road. There was none: all was interwoven stem, columnar trunk, dense, summer foliage – no opening anywhere.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 37. Jane describes her arrival at Ferndean, the secluded manor house buried deep in a wood and removed from the world. Walking the last mile to where Rochester lives, Jane is completely immersed in the closely packed trees and dense foliage. In the “sylvan dusk” she can find no opening and cannot see the house. The description of Ferndean with its dense forest setting suggests an image of a womb of nature, from which Jane and Rochester’s new life together will be reborn.