MAY. 57 



progression. It is this thought that renders a young girl 

 more lovely and interesting with her unfinished graces 

 than when she has attained the completion of her charms. 

 The bud, if not more beautiful, is more poetical than the 

 flower, as hope is more delightful than fruition. 



The ever-changing aspects of the woods are sources of 

 continual pleasure to the observer of nature, and have in 

 all ages afforded themes for the poet and subjects for the 

 painter. Of all these phases the one that is presented to 

 the eye in May is by far the most delightful, on account 

 of the infinite variety of tints and shades in the budding 

 and expanding leaves and blossoms, and the poetic rela- 

 tions of their appearance at this time to the agreeable 

 sentiment of progression. The unfolding leaves and 

 ripening hues of the landscape require no forced effort of 

 ingenuity to make apparent their analogy to the period of 

 youth and season of anticipation ; neither are the fading 

 tints of autumn any less suggestive of life's decline. 

 There are not many, however, who would not prefer the 

 lightness of heart that is produced by these emblems of 

 progression, and these signals of the reviving year, to the 

 more poetic sentiment of melancholy inspired by the 

 scenes of autumn. 



It is pleasant at this time to watch the progress of 

 vegetation, from the earliest greenness of the meadow, 

 and the first sprouting of the herbs, unfolding of the 

 leaves, and opening of the buds, until every herb, tree, 

 and flower has expanded and brightened into the full 

 radiance of summer. While the earth displays only a few 

 occasional stripes of verdure along the borders of the shal- 

 low pools and rivulets, and on the hillsides, where they 

 are watered by oozing fountains just beneath the surface, 

 we may observe the beautiful drapery of the tasselled 

 trees and shrubs, varying in color from a light yellow to 

 a dark orange or brown, and robing the landscape in a 



