OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



bill that cuts and destroys, why these ? 

 Why not rather the dear larks for one ? 

 They fly in flocks, and amid the white 

 expanse of snow (in the south) their 

 pleasant twitter or call is heard as they 

 sweep along seeking some grassy spot 

 cleared by the wind. The lark, the bird 

 of the light, is there in the bitter short 

 days. Put the lark then for winter, a 

 sign of hope, a certainty of summer. 

 Put, too, the sheathed bud, for if you 

 search the hedge you will find the 

 buds there, on tree and bush, carefully 

 wrapped around with the case which 

 protects them as a cloak. Put, too, the 

 sharp needles of the green corn : let the 

 wind clear it of snow a little way, and 

 show that under cold clod and colder 

 snow the green thing pushes up, know- 

 ing that summer must come. Nothing 

 despairs but man. Set the sharp curve 

 of the white new moon in the sky : she is 

 white in true frost, and yellow a little if 



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