INTKODUCTION xiii 



the woods. Every artist does something more than 

 copy Xature ; more comes out in his account than 

 goes into the original experience. 



Most persons think the bee gets honey from the 

 flowers, but she does not : honey is a product of 

 the bee ; it is the nectar of the flowers with the bee 

 added. WTiat the bee gets from the flower is sweet 

 water : this she puts through a process of her own 

 and imparts to it her own quality ; she reduces the 

 water and adds to it a minute drop of formic acid. 

 It is this drop of herself that gives the delicious 

 sting to her sweet. The bee is therefore the type 

 of the true poet, the true artist. Her product 

 always reflects her environment, and it reflects some- 

 thing her environment knows not of. We taste the 

 clover, the thyme, the linden, the sumac, and we 

 also taste something that has its source in none of 

 these flowers. 



The literary naturalist does not take liberties 

 with facts ; facts are the flora upon which he lives. 

 The more and the fresher the facts the better. I 

 can do nothing without them, but I must give them 

 my own flavor. I must impart to them a quality 

 which heightens and intensifies them. 



To interpret Nature is not to improve upon her : 

 it is to draw her out ; it is to have an emotional 

 intercourse with her, absorb her, and reproduce her 

 tinged with the colors of the spirit. 



If I name every bird I see in my walk, describe 



