The Clans Grass is as universal as dew, as common- 

 of the place as light. That which feels the seawind 

 in the loneliest Hebrides is brother to that 

 which lies on Himalaya or is fanned by the 

 hot airs of Asian valleys. That which covers 

 a grey scarp in Iceland is the same as that on 

 Adam's Peak in Ceylon, and that which in 

 myriad is the prairie of the north is in myriad 

 the pampas of the south ; that whose multitude 

 covers the Gaelic hills is that whose multitude 

 covers the Russian steppes. It is of all the 

 signature of Nature that which to us is nearest 

 and homeliest. The green grass after long 

 voyaging, the grass of home- valley or hillside 

 after long wayfaring, the green grass of the 

 Psalmist to souls athirst and weary, the grass 

 of El Dorado to the visionary seeking the 

 gold of the spirit, the grass of the Fortunate 

 Isles, of the Hills of Youth, to the poets and 

 dreamers of all lands and times . . . every- 

 where and ever has this omnipresent herb that 

 withereth and yet is continually reborn, been 

 the eternal symbol of that which passes like a 

 dream, the symbol of everlasting illusion, and 

 yet, too, is the symbol of resurrection, of all 

 the old divine illusion essayed anew, of the 

 inexplicable mystery of life recovered and 

 everlastingly perpetrated. 



When we speak of grass we generally mean 

 28 



