. Midsummer Eve : a fairy tale of loving and being loved . 158 MIDSUMMER EVE : approaches from a far-land—a speck, an atom, the veriest shadow I but itwill gain strength and power as it comes on—still, she added, with anair of triumph, I nothing fear; nothing can change her now, stablished,as slic is, in virtue ! Our next great festival—our Midsummer—will bewith us soon ; for the tender leaves, so lightly tinged with colour, as theyburst through the pale-brown shelter of their parent twigs, are growninto a hardy green; the hawthorn buds are swelling; the swallows ofthe old gable have come ; an
. Midsummer Eve : a fairy tale of loving and being loved . 158 MIDSUMMER EVE : approaches from a far-land—a speck, an atom, the veriest shadow I but itwill gain strength and power as it comes on—still, she added, with anair of triumph, I nothing fear; nothing can change her now, stablished,as slic is, in virtue ! Our next great festival—our Midsummer—will bewith us soon ; for the tender leaves, so lightly tinged with colour, as theyburst through the pale-brown shelter of their parent twigs, are growninto a hardy green; the hawthorn buds are swelling; the swallows ofthe old gable have come ; and the feathered choir are there in love andfullest tune ; there are nests in every bush and tree; and as I peepedat a greenfinch, I saw she had hatched her young; the wheat growsp^ tall and strong, and the oat and thebarley put forth their spiral leaves ;the blossom of the nut is droppingoff, leaving the germ it sheltered togrow and ripen; the insects stir inthe long grass ; and. Enough! said Honeybell; mybees have been busy gathering honeyall day, and labour renders them lazysteeds by night. We must away,good sister, to our nests in the flowersand THE HOLLOW TEEES, or to thedisguises that perplex the minds ofmortals. Where shall we meetagain ? When the weather was chilland the nights were dark we hadlight and music of our own in thehalls of Ard-Flesk, and in manylinie-honourtd but deserted mansions; but when summer is with us, Imibr the grceu-wuod—the arched bays where the silver sands glisten, andtlie waters carry our songs to bards of other lands. We must away ;for the morning light is breaking over lofty Carran Tiiel. Ay, look! exclaimed Nightstar; look at yon red streak,heralding the sun : we must indeed away; my eyes ache with the rapidbrightness that floods the sky. The busy hum of earth is beginning A FAIRY TALE OF 159 about us ; and us the earliest herald of evils that come with day, look atyonder wasp so soon astir for mischief—awake to di
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidmidsummereve, bookyear1870
