. The White hills; their legends, landscape, and poetry. land mountains guard,or upon which the setting sun lavishes his gold, than to connect withit Mr. Ruskins analysis of the beauty and apostrophe to the uses ofthe grass ? Gather a single blade of grass, and examine for a minute, quietly,its narrow sword-shaped strip of fluted green. Nothing, as it seemsthere, of notable goodness or beauty. A very little strength, and avery little tallness, and a few delicate long lines meeting in a point,—not a perfect point neither, but blunt and unfinished, by no means a THE SACO VALLEY 165 creditable or
. The White hills; their legends, landscape, and poetry. land mountains guard,or upon which the setting sun lavishes his gold, than to connect withit Mr. Ruskins analysis of the beauty and apostrophe to the uses ofthe grass ? Gather a single blade of grass, and examine for a minute, quietly,its narrow sword-shaped strip of fluted green. Nothing, as it seemsthere, of notable goodness or beauty. A very little strength, and avery little tallness, and a few delicate long lines meeting in a point,—not a perfect point neither, but blunt and unfinished, by no means a THE SACO VALLEY 165 creditable or apparently much cared for example of Natures workmanship ; made, as it seems, only to be trodden on to-day and to-morrow to be cast into the oven ; and a little pale and hollow stalk,feeble and flaccid, leading down to the dull brown fibres of yet, think of it well, and judge whether of all the gorgeousflowers that beam in summer air, and of all strong and goodly trees,pleasant to the eyes and good for food,—stately palm and pine, strong. ash and oak, scented citron, burdened vine,—there be any by man sodeeply loved, by God so highly graced, as that narrow point of feeble green Consider what we owe merely to the meadow grass, to the cover-ing of the dark ground by that glorious enamel, by the companies ofthose soft, and countless and peaceful spears. The fields ! Followbut forth for a little time the thouirhts of all that we ou2:ht to recoff- 166 THE WHITE IHLLS. nize in those words. All spring and summer is in them,—tne walksby silent scented paths,—the rests in noonday heat,—the joy of herdsand flocks,—the power of all shepherd life and meditation,—the lifeof sunlight upon the Avorld, falling in emerald streaks, and failing insoft blue shadows, Avhere else it would have struck upon the darkmould, or scorching dust,—pictures beside the pacing brooks,—softbanks and knolls of lowly hills,—thymy slopes of down overlookedby the blue line of lifted
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectwhitemo, bookyear1876
