The Height of Summer 143 



u The middle sea contains no crimson dulse, 

 Its deeper waves cast up no pearls to view, 



But on the shore my hand is on its pulse, 



And I converse with many a shipwrecked crew.&quot; 



In these days, when everybody makes the ocean 

 voyage, the truth ought to be known. The 

 Spanish ballad says that the sailor answered to 

 Count Arnaldos : 



&quot; Only those who brave its dangers 

 Comprehend its mystery.&quot; 



And perhaps the reason why the hills are more 

 dear to so many who love Nature is that their 

 mystery, as profound as that of the sea, is more 

 near and more free of apprehension. Not that 

 Nature is ever truly in sympathy with man s 

 moods, but that we are in her very bosom, sensi 

 bly nurtured by her abundant life and intimate 

 with her very heart-beats. She is not sympathetic 

 with man, but man may glide into her great flood 

 and current of divine power, and feel himself borne 

 on in endless vigour to a broader and most 

 wondrous order of development, where all that is 

 beautiful here will have a transcendent renewal 

 and spiritual exaltation. 



