love's meinie. 31 



too-etlier for decoration instead of force. After the 

 feather of the robin's wing, let us examine one from his 

 breast. 



33. I said, just now, he might be at once outshone ])y a 

 brickbat. Indeed, the day before yesterday, sleeping at 

 Lichfield, and seeing, the first thing when I woke in the 

 morning, (for I never put down the blinds of my bedroom 

 windows,) the not nnconimon sight in an English country 

 town of an entire house-front of very neat, and very fiat, 

 and very red bricks, with very exactly squared square 

 windows in it ; and not feeling myself in anywise grati- 

 fied or improved by the spectacle, I was thinking how in i 

 this, as in all other good, the too much destroyed all. Tlie / 

 breadth of a robin's breast in brick-red is delicious, but a 

 whole house-front of brick-red as vivid, is alarming. And 

 yet one cannot generalize even tliat trite moi-al witli any 

 safety — for infinite breadth of green is delightful, how- 

 ever m-een : and of sea or skv, liowever l>lue. 



You must note, however, that the i-obin's chai-m is 

 greatly helped by the pretty space of grey plumage 

 which separates the red from the brown back, and sets it 

 off to its best advantage. Tliere is no great brilliancy 

 in it, even so relieved ; only the finish of it is exquisite. 



34. If you separate a single feather, you will find it 

 more like a transparent hollow shell than a feathei- (so 

 delicately rounded the surface of it), — grey at the root, 

 where the down is, — tinged, and only tinged, with red at 

 the part that overlaps and is visible ; so that, ^^ hen three 



