. Strolls by starlight and sunshine;. Natural history. 14 STARLIGHT AND What is the aftermath which the poet gleans in. his neighbor's field ? " A second crop thy acres yield, Which I gather in a song," sings Emerson. That is a poor and lifeless botany that is not written full with songs. Chaucer's daisy was his favored companion; his devotion was unremitting. He met its opening fringes at the dawn; he lingered by it as it closed its eye at twilight. Sleeping or waking, noon or midnight, he could give an account of his protegee for every hour. How few of the proud follower
. Strolls by starlight and sunshine;. Natural history. 14 STARLIGHT AND What is the aftermath which the poet gleans in. his neighbor's field ? " A second crop thy acres yield, Which I gather in a song," sings Emerson. That is a poor and lifeless botany that is not written full with songs. Chaucer's daisy was his favored companion; his devotion was unremitting. He met its opening fringes at the dawn; he lingered by it as it closed its eye at twilight. Sleeping or waking, noon or midnight, he could give an account of his protegee for every hour. How few of the proud followers, of Lin- naeus know how their erudition is mocked in the meadow masquerade, or what their hard-named minions are up to in the dark hours! My first midnight walk was a revelation, and a severe shock to my comfortable, self-conceit. The woods and meadows had been full of faces that I had known and welcomed famil- iarly for years in my daily walks. But when I sallied forth with my lantern that night, I stepped from my threshold upon foreign sod. I found no greeting nor open palms, and I lost my way as though in a strange land. Indeed "is not the mid- night like Central Africa to most of us ?" As I stood in perplexity scanning my sur- roundings in the meadow a strange form closely hooded beneath its folded leaves seemed to mur- mur at my elbow, and I listened. " Say not that you know a single one of us," it said, in a roguish clover-scented whisper. " It is not. 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 Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton), 1850-1896. New York, Harper & brothers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
