INFLUENCES IN LITERATURE. 109 
sources, and the well-rounded genius seems to 
feed itself upon Nature much more than upon 
books. A book is most useful as a literary 
helper, when it may be used as a glass with 
which to better view Nature. I would not be 
understood as saying that all worthy literature 
is or should be a mere interpretation of out- 
door life; far from it. Out-door life, I may 
say, furnishes the inspiration, the enthusiasm, 
the freshness. It furnishes the water for the 
clay, it gives the hand its certainty, the mind 
its new leases upon youth. It does not make 
the mind nor the hand; it merely informs 
them with the creative effluence of Nature, as 
Thoreau would express it. It has a fertilizing 
power—this lonely communion with the out- 
door forms of life—which one may trace in the 
best works of the geniuses of all ages. Pan, 
when he pursued the flying Syrinx, and at last 
clasped an armful of reeds instead of the 
nymph, very accurately typified the poet. He 
took the reeds and made of them his pipe. 
He had caught the idea of music from the 
sounds of the rustling leaves and stems. If 
you would like to fully understand the mean- 
ing of this myth of Pan and Syrinx go clasp 
an armful of wild green reeds and hold your 
ear close to them. You will hear the sound 
of washing seas and rippling rivers and flow- 
ing breezes all blending together ; voices from 
vast distances and snatches of immemorial 
song will come to you. Like Pan you will 
long for a pipe, that you may express what 
has been suggested to you by the reeds. 
Awhile ago I said that direct, conscious 
study of Nature was not best for gathering 
those impressions most valuable to the poet 
