. Sun dials and roses of yesterday; garden delights which are here displayed in every truth and are moreover regarded as emblems . relationto the character of the decoration of the perhaps, in Horatios words, Twere to con-sider too curiously, to consider so. Another wonderful background was a row of Pinetrees which had been left standing from the oldforest when the house was built and the gardenplanned. Not near enough to shadow basely thedial at midday, but close enough to render uselessthe markings of the hours of later afternoon, theywatched over the dial, and the sound of thei
. Sun dials and roses of yesterday; garden delights which are here displayed in every truth and are moreover regarded as emblems . relationto the character of the decoration of the perhaps, in Horatios words, Twere to con-sider too curiously, to consider so. Another wonderful background was a row of Pinetrees which had been left standing from the oldforest when the house was built and the gardenplanned. Not near enough to shadow basely thedial at midday, but close enough to render uselessthe markings of the hours of later afternoon, theywatched over the dial, and the sound of theirbranches seemed the very passing voice of Time. I never hear now the soft musical sighing, thetender low breathing of the Pines without recallingthe tree-planting in Hardys IVoodlanders — a won-derful description, yet of few words, wherein yousmell and hear and see the beautiful young treesthe moment they are planted upright. How solemn The Setting of Sun-dials 247 and weird is that sighing in an old tall forest I Itis a distinct third of three notes, formed perhaps bythe different height of the trees or by cross-currents. Sun-dial in Garden of the late Hon, William H. Seward, Auburn, New York. of air, I walked through such a forest last sum-mer, one with grand mast-trees like those markedby the kings broad arrow of old; trees born to bemasts and with the tone of the sea in their chords. 248 Sun-dials and Roses of Yesterday And the tree-voices seemed to bear the weight andprofundity of the centuries of their lives, — a solem-nity that is not sad, but seems filled instead with theessence of a noble life. It is one of the inarticulatenature-sounds that speak more clearly than words. The voice of the Pines differs at times. Lowellknows the Pine-tree like a brother, knows its moodsand its voices : — * Pines, if youre blue, are the best friends I know ;They mope and sigh and share your feelins so ;They hush the ground beneath so, too, I swanYou half forget youve got a body on
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectsundial, bookyear1902
