THE DBEARY AND DESOLATE. 103 



to hear the low moaning of winds at this time, when they 

 seem like dirges over the departed beauties of summer. 

 We love the evening twilight and Hesper's melancholy 

 star, because they inspire tender sensations of melan- 

 choly, and raise our souls at the same time to the con- 

 templation of infinity. The pale light of the moon gives 

 us intimations of the sympathy of the benign goddess ; 

 and while sitting under her light, lovers and mourners, 

 those who rejoice and those who weep, feel the presence 

 of a divinity and an alleviation of those passions that 

 agitate the soul. 



The sense of weirdness which we feel when surrounded 

 by certain kinds of dreary landscape intensifies our love 

 of nature. The feelings it inspires are of a spiritual cast, 

 and far above the sensual delights that spring from the 

 sight of dressed grounds and voluptuous gardens. But 

 this kind of scenery may be compared to certain pathetic 

 or solemn strains in music, which, if long continued, would 

 become depressing. When we emerge from such a pros- 

 pect into that of an opposite character, we feel a pleasant 

 exhilaration which is due to our previous depression. 

 It is like the twilight of morning, that exalts our spirits 

 by blending with the sadness of earth and night some 

 of the inspiring tints of heaven and immortality. 



