66 IN THE HEMLOCKS. 



chanting a divine accompaniment. This 

 song appeals to the sentiment of the beau- 

 tiful in me, and suggests a serene religious 

 beatitude as no other sound in nature does. 

 It is perhaps more of an evening than a 

 morning hymn, though I hear it at all hours 

 of the day. It is very simple, and I can 

 hardly tell the secret of its charm. " O 

 spheral, spheral ! " he seems to say ; " O 

 holy, holy! O clear away, clear away! O 

 clear up, clear up ! " interspersed with the 

 finest trills and the most delicate preludes. 

 It is not a proud, gorgeous strain, like the 

 tanager's or the grossbeak's ; suggests no 

 passion or emotion, nothing personal, 

 but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet 

 solemnity one attains to in his best moments. 

 It realizes a peace and a deep, solemn joy 

 that only the finest souls may know. A few 

 nights ago I ascended a mountain to see the 

 world by moonlight ; and when near the 

 summit the hermit commenced his evening 

 hymn a few rods from me. Listening to 

 this strain on the lone mountain, with the 

 full moon just rounded from the horizon, 

 the pomp of your cities and the pride of 

 your civilization seemed trivial and cheap. 

 I have seldom known two of these birds 



