Out of Doors in February 



the adversity of snow. Or you might set the morning 

 star, for it burns and burns and glitters in the winter 

 dawn, and throws forth beams like those of metal con- 

 sumed in oxygen. There is nought that I know by 

 comparison with which I might indicate the glory 

 of the morning star, while yet the dark night hides in 

 the hollows. The lamb is born in the fold. The 

 morning star glitters in the sky. The bud is alive in 

 its sheath; the green corn under the snow; the lark 

 twitters as he passes. Now these to me are the 

 allegory of winter. 



These mild hours in February check the hold which 

 winter has been gaining, and as it were, tear his claws 

 out of the earth, their prey. If it has not been so 

 bitter previously, when this Gulf stream or current of 

 warmer air enters the expanse it may bring forth a 

 butterfly and tenderly woo the first violet into flower. 

 But this depends on its having been only moderately 

 cold before, and also upon the stratum, whether it is 

 backward clay, or forward gravel and sand. Spring 

 dates are quite different according to the locality, and 

 when violets may be found in one district, in another 

 there is hardly a woodbine-leaf out. The border line 

 may be traced, and is occasionally so narrow, one may 

 cross over it almost at a step. It would sometimes 

 seem as if even the nut-tree bushes bore larger and 

 finer nuts on the warmer soil, and that they ripened 

 quicker. Any curious in the first of things, whether 

 it be a leaf, or flower, or a bird, should bear this in 

 mind, and not be discouraged because he hears some 

 one else has already discovered or heard something. 



A little note taken now at this bare time of the 



kind of earth may lead to an understanding of the 



district. It is plain where the plough has turned 



it, where the rabbits have burrowed and thrown it 



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