SEPTEMBER. 



323 



the ground at this dry season, and partly from 

 the eye being relieved from the intensity of 

 splendour with which it is oppressed in sum- 

 mer ; but be it what it may, the fact has not 

 escaped one of our most beautiful poets ; 



There is a harmony ' 

 In Autumn, and a lustre in its sky, 

 Which through the summer is not heard nor seen, 

 As if it could not be, as if it had not been. 



Now it is delightful among mountains. Moun- 

 tains ! how one's heart leaps up at the very 

 word ! There is a charm connected with moun- 

 tains so powerful, that the merest mention of 

 them, the merest sketch of their magnificent 

 features kindles the imagination, and carries 

 the spirit at once into the bosom of their en- 

 chanted regions. How the mind is filled with 

 their vast solitude ! how the inward eye is 

 fixed on their silent, their sublime, their ever- 

 lasting peaks ! How our heart bounds to the 

 music of their solitary cries to the tinkle of 

 their gushing rills, to the sound of their cata- 

 racts. How inspiriting are the odours that 

 breathe from the upland turf, from the rock- 

 hung flower, from the hoary and solemn pine ; 

 how beautiful are those lights and shadows 

 Y 2 



