INTRODUCTION. vii 



" A primrose by a river's brim 

 A yellow primrose was to him, 

 And it was nothing more." 



But, on the other hand, who of us can truly say — 



" To me the meanest flower that blows can give 

 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears"? 



There is no doubt in my mind as to what Beet 

 hoven was thinking of when he wrote the lovely 

 scherzo of his Heroic Symphony. The music is 

 brimful of the woods and fields of springtime. We 

 do not know exactly what Chopin imagined when 

 he composed his Impromptu Fantasia, but its exu- 

 berant music suggests the joy and freedom of the 

 birds and fiowers in the woods and meadows of June. 



A little more familiarity with Nature will lead us 

 to a better understanding of her message — a message 

 she surely has for every one who will but listen. 



F. Schuyler Mathews. 



El Fureidis, Blair, Campton, N. H., 

 October, 1894. 



