THE FAERY YEAR 



lamb and ewe, from the hollow by the coppice to 

 the great swede field at the top of the hill. Here 

 at night he keeps his long, and, now that less aid is 

 needed, his lonely, vigil in a glory, world-old and 

 nightly new. To the east and south, and partly to 

 the west, owing to the high position, not a tree 

 obstructs his view of the skies. On a clear night 

 the Hare, seen from this hill, glistens quite distinct 

 under awful Orion, and, looking more eastward, 

 even before the night has blackened, we realize that 

 its pursuer, the Greater Dog, has other brilliants 

 besides the Koh-i-nur of heaven, Sirius. 



Most moving in these eves of March, and most 

 superb of all, is Venus, waxing bright and brighter 

 for hours till she sets behind the dark slope away 

 west. The Star of Bethlehem that guided the 

 shepherds hardly burned intenser. The shepherd 

 is not unconscious of this scene ; he can watch the 

 starry hosts for weather portent ; they may help to 

 tell him whether it will freeze or rain. He may be 

 responsive too, in a quiet way, with small outward 

 show, to the beauty of it all. But he cannot tell 

 the hour to a quarter or a half by the stars and 

 planets. The night hemisphere, unlike the day, is 

 not for him a clock. 



I never met a toiler of the downs or woods who 

 could tell the time by the stars. There was a 

 farmer in a story who could do so. Looking up 

 one night at lambing-time, he took note of the 

 position of the Charioteer and The Twins, and 

 said to himself " one o'clock." I fancy that if this 

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