86 IValks in New England 



barn swallow and the meadow lark ; and not to 

 mention our familiars, the robin, the bluebird and 

 the rest, here is the brown thrasher, whom Yankee 

 farmers have dubbed &quot; the planting-bird,&quot; since 

 he arrives at planting time and from the tops of 

 tall trees directs the farmer how to do his work, 

 with volubility and an extraordinary variety of 

 songs, as many as the catbird has, or the mock 

 ingbird himself. cc List the brown thrasher s 

 vernal hymn &quot; one cannot do otherwise if he be 

 within hearing distance. What endless delight in 

 life, what joy is life ! 



However much one may complain of lesser 

 matters, the breath of flying winds on the rocks 

 is enough to make one forget all else. There all 

 the earth seems a mere accident, and one breathes 

 the universal communion. Things as they are in 

 the valleys, where men mould and mismanage 

 them, are forgotten, and for the moment one feels 

 the divine wholeness, the inspiration of God 

 which makes existence bearable, in hope, almost 

 in view, of the infinite liberation. 



Then one feels that while there are constant 

 and inexorable duties in the vale, and reason 

 enough to fulfil those duties and against escaping 

 from them, yet there is a refuge which is sure 

 to come, a freedom which is instinct and char 

 tered in the soul, which may be earned by that 



