266 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



the motion is theirs ; the flowers with a thou- 

 sand faces have collected the kisses of the 

 morning. Feeling with them, I receive some, 

 at least, of their fulness of life. Never could 

 I have enough ; never stay long enough 

 whether here or whether lying on the shorter 

 sward under the sweeping and graceful birches, 

 or on the thyme-scented hills. Hour after 

 hour, and still not enough. Or walking the 

 footpath was never long enough, or my 

 strength sufficient to endure till the mind was 

 weary. The exceeding beauty of the earth, 

 in her splendour of life, yields a new thought 

 with every petal. The hours when the mind 

 is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when 

 we really live, so that the longer we can stay 

 among these things so much the more is 

 snatched from inevitable Time. Let the 

 shadow advance upon the dial I can watch it 

 with equanimity while it is there to be watched. 

 It is only when the shadow is not there, 

 when the clouds of winter cover it, that the 

 dial is terrible. The invisible shadow goes on 

 and steals from us. But now, while I can 

 see the shadow of the tree and watch it slowly 



