LILY-PONDS. 183 



sands of them still quietly sleeping in the forest, unshorn 

 of their original attractions. On the boundaries of these 

 virgin waters, Nature still presides, where Art has not in- 

 troduced her affectations, nor Pride desecrated 'a single 

 scene by her baleful ornaments. There is not, during all 

 the season, a day when the plaintive song of the veery 

 may not be heard from the shore proclaiming itself the 

 chief chorister of the woods, from the time of the flower- 

 ing of the rhodora until the clethra scents the groves 

 in midsummer; while the fairest flowers, the clearest 

 fountains, birds that dwell in sacred retreats never pro- 

 faned by the plough, trees that for centuries have spread 

 their harps to the tuneful gales, roses that have annually 

 offered the purest incense to the skies, ambrosial herbs 

 that deck the ground with their verdure, then perish and 

 offer their leaves as a balm to the sick, cupbearers of 

 incense to the dewy morn and even, all rise, and bud 

 and bloom, and scatter their fragrance, and weave a warp 

 of beauty in a friendly ambuscade around the dwelling- 

 place of the water-lilies. 



The angler, if he be either a philosopher or a natu- 

 ralist, can deeply feel the charm of all these objects. 

 I can imagine no man more happy than one who, after 

 passing the greater part of the day in the occupation that 

 affords him a livelihood, resorts to these secluded retreats 

 to obtain that tranquillity which cannot be found in the 

 bustle of commerce, to breathe the incense rising to 

 heaven wherever the flowers are bathed in dew, and to 

 gaze upon the charming array of beautiful things that 

 sparkle around the altar of Nature. Bright gem of the 

 forest, fixed under the brows of these wooded hills for 

 the baptism of the votaries of Nature into her inner sanc- 

 tuary of delights ! Above thy glassy wave the happy 

 angler may watch the shifting forms of the clouds as they 

 pass languidly over its mirrored surface, while zephyrs 



