THOUGHTS FROM WRITINGS 



the flowers and the azure sky, shall 

 become, as it were, interwoven into 

 man's existence. He shall take from 

 all their beauty and enjoy their glory. 

 Hence it is that a flower is to me so 

 much more than stalk and petals. When 

 I look in the glass I see that every line 

 in my face means pessimism ; but in 

 spite of my face— that is my experience 

 — I remain an optimist. Time with an 

 unsteady hand has etched thin crooked 

 lines, and, deepening the hollows, has 

 cast the original expression into shadow. 

 Pain and sorrow flow over us with little 

 ceasing, as the sea-hoofs beat on the 

 beach. Let us not look at ourselves 

 but onwards, and take strength from the 

 leaf and the signs of the field. He is in- 

 deed despicable who cannot look onwards 

 to the ideal life of man. Not to do so is 

 to deny our birthrightof mind. — 'The Life 

 of the Fields': 1 The Pageant of Summer. 



1 'The Life of the Fields ' : Chatto and Windus. 

 52 



