. The bird. Birds. THE SWALLOW l'.t5 black face. Who, tlien, art thou, thou who always concealest thyself, who never showest me auffht ^^> ^«SS^ ^>.. but thy trenchant wings — scythes rapid as that of Time ? But Time goes forward without pause; thou, thou always re- turnest. Thou drawest close to my side; it seems as if thou wouldst graze me,-wouldst touch me ?—So nearly dost thou caress me, that I feel in my face the wind, almost the whirr of thy wings. Is it a bird ? Is it a spirit ? Ah, if thou art a soul, tell me so frankly, and reveal to me the barrier which separates the living fro
. The bird. Birds. THE SWALLOW l'.t5 black face. Who, tlien, art thou, thou who always concealest thyself, who never showest me auffht ^^> ^«SS^ ^>.. but thy trenchant wings — scythes rapid as that of Time ? But Time goes forward without pause; thou, thou always re- turnest. Thou drawest close to my side; it seems as if thou wouldst graze me,-wouldst touch me ?—So nearly dost thou caress me, that I feel in my face the wind, almost the whirr of thy wings. Is it a bird ? Is it a spirit ? Ah, if thou art a soul, tell me so frankly, and reveal to me the barrier which separates the living from the dead. But let us not anticipate, nor let loose the waters of bitterness. Rather let us trace this bird in the people's thoughts, in the good old popular wisdom, close akin, undoubtedly, to the wisdom of Nature. The people have seen in her only the natural dial, the division of the seasons, of the two great hours of t'le year. At Easter and at Michaelmas, at the epochs of family gatherings, of fairs and markets, of leases and rent-paying, the black and white swallow appears, and tells us the time. She comes to separate and define the past and the coming seasons. At these epochs families and friends meet together, but not always to find the circle complete ; in the last six months this friend has disappeared, and that. The swallow returns, but not for all; many have gone a very long journey, longer than the tour of France. To Germany ? No ; further, further still. Our co'mpanions, industrious travellers, followed the -swallow's. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Michelet, Jules, 1798-1874; Giacomelli, Hector, 1822-1904. London ; New York : T. Nelson
Size: 1449px × 1724px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthormich, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbirds
